Russell Brand

Russell Brand   (comedian, actor, author, activist)
Born	Russell Edward Brand 4 June 1975

Russell Brand is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author, and activist.

Film career

After beginning his career as a stand-up comedian and later becoming an MTV presenter, Russell Brand first achieved renown in 2004 as the host of "Big Brother's Big Mouth", a "Big Brother" spin-off. In 2007, he had his first major film role in "St Trinian's", and the following year he landed a major role in the romantic comedy-drama "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" which led to him starring in a spin off, the rock comedy "Get Him to the Greek" in 2010. He also worked as a voice actor in the animated films "Despicable Me" in 2010, "Hop" in 2011, and "Despicable Me 2" in 2013, and played the title character of the 2011 remake of the romantic comedy "Arthur". In 2013, he released the successful stand-up special "Messiah Complex".

Activist

Since guest editing an edition of British political weekly New Statesman in 2013, Brand has become known as a public activist and campaigner, and has spoken on a wide range of political and cultural issues, including wealth inequality, substance addiction, corporate capitalism, climate change, and media bias. In 2014, Brand launched his political-comedy web series "The Trews", released a book entitled "Revolution", and began work on a documentary about financial inequality ("The Emperor's New Clothes").

Over the course of his career, Russell Brand has been the subject of frequent media coverage and controversy for issues such as his promiscuity and drug use, his outrageous behaviour at various award ceremonies, his dismissal from MTV and resignation from the BBC. He has incorporated many of his controversial public antics into his comedic material. A biographical documentary called "Brand: A Second Coming" was released in 2015.

Politics

Former BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman interviewed Russell Brand in 2013, when he disparaged the British political system as ineffectual and encouraged the British electorate not to vote. When asked by Paxman what a revolution would look like, Brand replied:

A socialist egalitarian system based on the massive redistribution of wealth, with heavy taxation of corporations...I think the very concept of profit should be hugely reduced...I say profit is a filthy word, because wherever there is a profit there is also a deficit.

The Trews

Russell Brand launched his YouTube series "The Trews: True News with Russell Brand" on 27 February 2014, in which he "analyses the news, truthfully, spontaneously and with great risk to his personal freedom." In addition to news analysis, he regularly has guests on the show, including economists, journalists and activists. By the end of the year, more than 200 episodes had been released on the channel. The show was halted for nearly a year as he decided to be away from social media to focus on his personal and professional growth.

9/11

In October 2014, Russell Brand appeared on Newsnight again, but was interviewed by Evan Davis on this occasion. Asked about 9/11 conspiracy theories and whether the attacks were perpetuated by the American government, Brand commented:

"We have to remain open-minded to that kind of possibility", although this section of the interview ended with Brand insisting that he did not "want to talk about daft conspiracy theories."

Hadley Freeman in The Guardian mocked the opinions he expressed in the interview:

"I’m not entirely sure where he thinks he’s going to go with this revolution idea because [SPOILER!] revolution is not going to happen."

Jeremy Corbyn

In August 2015, Russell Brand endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the 2015 Labour Party leadership election. He said:

"Jeremy Corbyn would be a better kind of new Labour. The fear would be, can party politics ever impact the will of the people?" In May 2017, Brand endorsed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the UK/2017 General Election he wrote in the Huffington Post that Corbyn "has the qualities I want in a strong and stable leader". He wrote: "Whether it's the 2003 Iraq War or badger-baiting, Corbyn has been allied with common sense and compassion in pretty much every Parliamentary argument."

Brand praised Corbyn for his long record of sticking to his principles and for standing up to the media's treatment of him. Regarding the 2015 election he said:

"You know I never actually said 'don't vote? I said 'There's no point in voting when the main political parties are basically indistinguishable and the relationship between government, big business and factions of the media make it impossible for the democratic will of the people to be realised, which is a more nuanced point and plainly true. Anyway, that was then and this is now."

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:The plot to keep Corbyn out of power	blog post	3 July 2019	Jonathan Cook	The weaponisation of anti-semitism against Corbyn has become so normal that, even while I was writing this post, a new nadir was reached. Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary who hopes to defeat Boris Johnson in the upcoming Tory leadership race, as good as accused Corbyn of being a new Hitler, a man who as prime minister might allow Jews to be exterminated, just as occurred in the Nazi death camps.

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References

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