Russell Brand was back in the news this week after pleading guilty yesterday, January 9, to speeding on the M4 back in June last year. Shifting attention away from his court case, the actor and comedian last night took to his X account to share his thoughts on Andrew Tate, a figure known for sharing misogynistic views.
Tate recently announced he was starting a political party in the UK called the BRUV party, which stands for Britain Restoring Underlying Values. He also said he was going to ‘run for PM’.
Tate and his brother Tristan have been accused of human trafficking and forming an organised group to sexually exploit women.
Last night, Brand began by posting: “Before you dismiss @Cobratate for some of the wild things he’s said on the internet (which I myself have also done!), you better understand that independent media is changing the world quicker than the old institutions of power can fathom.”
He then went on to share a video, writing alongside that “whatever you think of” Tate “he’s a vessel for a lot of ideas that cannot be repressed and need to be discussed.”
In the accompanying video, Brand goes on to say “Someone like Andrew Tate with the audience he has could make a significant difference if correctly backed. He does say some stuff which is pretty out there, but the fact is, in a democracy if someone is able to gleam popular support they can have a mandate, they should be represented.”
He goes on to add: “You can have your own views of Andrew Tate, you might think he’s misogynistic or vulgar, but the fact is he appeals to a lot of people and he represents some things that a lot of people are very interested in.”
An hour later he posted another video, with the caption reading: “I know how far institutions of power will go to smear and censor people they dislike or more importantly are threatened by, and now we are beginning to see just how corrupt those very same institutions are.”
In the video accompanying this post he argues that the rise of figures such as Andrew Tate is a result of “the institutional atrophy that’s been happening long before the COVID pandemic exposed and help us articulate and appreciate that corporate power, notably big tech and big pharma, are co-operating with centralised formal traditional power, notably the media and the government, to maintain control over whole populations. And also how nefarious and untrustworthy those institutions are. That’s as a result of abandoning at the heart of our culture and our institutions faith and belief of God.”
Brand then shared a clip of Tate saying: “I will be aiming to be Prime Minister to fix the mess. London should be the greatest city in the world.”
The caption written above by Brand read: “Like all controversial characters (and I know a lot of people see me as one), @Cobratate likely represents ideas and traits that have value, even if they’ve said some crazy stuff in the past (which I know I’ve also done).”
Brand’s criticism of “institutions of power” could be a reference to the joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches last year, which revealed that four women had accused him of sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013.
Brand denies the allegations, and previously said all his sexual relationships were “absolutely always consensual”.