Russell Brand Sentencing: Prosecution Calls for Long Jail Term
Russell Brand is being sentenced on Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, with prosecutors urging a long jail term. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says abuse in the media industry persists and the government may force firms to protect whistleblowers.
Russell Brand is being sentenced on Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, and the prosecution calls for a long jail term. The judge has already said the comedian and presenter faces a "significant" prison term.
A jury found Brand guilty of the rape and the three sexual assaults. After the verdicts it emerged that he is under investigation over two further rape allegations.
Nandy: abuse still a problem
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the conviction exposed a continuing problem with exploitation and abuse in the media industry, and a failure to deal properly with allegations. In a Sunday television interview she was asked whether the problem persists today.
"Yes, I do, and I think, hand on heart, I can't say to you as the culture secretary that this is not happening today. In fact, if I had to wager, I would say it is," she said.
Nandy said institutions across media and public life, including politics, do not protect women who come forward. She described industries with huge power imbalances, short-term flexible contracts and careers that hinge on reputation. "Speaking up has a very heavy cost," she said.
Pressure on broadcasters
Nandy praised the BBC for signing up to the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), a whistleblowing body, and for other steps in recent years. She said the corporation could still do more.
"There are other institutions that haven't done that, and time is up," she said. She told the industry it was time to put such practices into action.
On another Sunday broadcast, Nandy said the government wants the conviction to be a "watershed moment". She urged every organisation not yet in CIISA to join, and warned that ministers are considering how to "mandate that sort of action" if they do not.
Brand's case has raised difficult questions for the BBC, Channel 4 and the production companies that worked with him. Some women told of fearing that speaking out could damage their careers.
A BBC editorial standards report found that staff felt unable to complain about Brand because of the culture at Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music, where he presented shows. The allegations it examined included claims that he exposed himself in the studio, urinated into bottles and threw objects in anger.
