Russell Brand's X account has posted a cryptic message to Elon Musk, thanking the billionaire after Meta deleted the convicted rapist's Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault earlier this week. He was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on Monday, and his accounts on Instagram and Facebook were subsequently disabled by Meta.
Message posted on X
Two days after Brand was sent to HMP Wandsworth, his X account, which has 10 million followers, posted: "There never was a Russell Brand, according to Meta. Thank God for Elon Musk."
The post ended with "Stay tuned," suggesting there would be more to come.
Brand's account reshared an email from Meta alongside the message, which read: "We disabled your account. You no longer have access to russellbrand."
Meta explains account removal
The email continued: "Your account, or activity on it, doesn't follow our Community Standards. No one can see or find your account, and you can't use it. All your information will be permanently deleted."
It was also confirmed Brand would not be able to "request another review of this decision," although information he had previously shared could be downloaded.
The former comedian's Instagram account had over 5 million followers prior to its suspension, while his Facebook account had 6.2 million followers.
Musk's longstanding support
X owner Musk has long been a supporter of Brand, which is why his social media profile has been allowed to remain on the site.
Prior to sentencing on Monday, the billionaire shared a graphic of Brand alongside another rapist, with quotation marks around the comedian's convictions. It suggested he was facing "potential life in jail," despite a maximum sentence for rape in the UK being 10 to 15 years.
Musk wrote above the retweeted graphic: "Unjust."
Brand denied the allegations when they first emerged in 2023, and Musk defended him at the time, writing: "I support Russell Brand. That man is not evil."
On Monday, Brand was described as a "predator" by a judge, who praised the women who came forward to speak out against him. Judge Mr Justice Bennathan then sentenced Brand to 10 years and six months in jail.
