Netflix Faces Backlash for Keeping Russell Brand Special After Rape Conviction
Netflix has declined to remove a Russell Brand stand-up special after the comedian was convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison. The decision has drawn criticism as a separate Netflix documentary on the allegations is also in the works.
Netflix faces backlash for refusing to pull a Russell Brand stand-up special after a London court convicted the comedian of rape and sexual assault this week. Brand, 51, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison.
Reports say the streaming service has declined to remove the special, which includes a crude sex joke. Netflix is also reported to be behind a new documentary, titled Open Secret, that explores the allegations against him.
The conviction and sentence
Brand was convicted at Southwark Crown Court of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others between 2004 and 2009. The court heard that one woman was raped in 2009, when she was 21, at his luxury London home.
Other women who worked at Channel 4, MTV and Capital Radio also accused the former television presenter of sexual misconduct.
Justice Bennathan criticised Brand's "staggering arrogance" as he passed sentence. "About 20 years ago Russell Brand, you were becoming famous, you were clever, and in many people's eyes you were funny and charismatic," the judge said. "You had also become a sexual predator."
Row outside the courtroom
After the sentencing, Brand's barrister Ian Winter KC confronted Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin, whose reporting helped bring the allegations into the public domain. "I hope you are pleased with yourself," he told her.
Urwin answered: "I'm pleased justice has been done." Winter replied that it had not been, according to an account of the exchange.
Winter's team had sought to blame media coverage during the trial. He argued that reporting by Urwin and others had "poisoned the well" and made a fair trial impossible. The court rejected those claims.
Celebrity reaction
The case has also prompted a separate row over comments by television personality Kelly Brook. Appearing on ITV's Loose Women, she said she had warned people in the entertainment industry for years to be careful around Brand.
Brook said she had asked women who had dealt with him why they did not speak up. One told her, "I thought I was the only one, I didn't realise." Brook added that "it's only when multiple women come forward and share their stories that you realise what's happened to you."
She said she was "just so happy" the women in the case had gained "justice in the way they have". She also said she knew nothing of the allegations at the time, only that Brand "was someone you needed to be wary of".
Some viewers called her remarks insensitive. "Asking a survivor why she didn't say anything? Shameful," one person wrote on X. Others defended her, with one user saying it was good to see other celebrities speaking out about Brand.
Brook also recalled interviewing Brand on MTV in 2006 while promoting her film Survival Island. She said he never "targeted" her, which she put down to her being in long-term relationships with high-profile stars at the time.
