A resurfaced clip of Russell Brand discussing a trip to Asia with his father has drawn disgust from online users, following the entertainer's sentencing for rape and sexual assault.
The footage was shared on social media after Brand, now 51, was sentenced to nine years in prison for rape, with additional terms of 18 months, nine months and eight months for three counts of sexual assault. Outside the court, his father Ron, a photographer, insisted his son was the victim, saying girls had "harassed" him.
Video shows father and son discussing sex workers
In the video, Brand explains how his relationship with his dad improved as he grew older, before recounting a trip to Hong Kong and Thailand around the time he turned 17, when he arranged for sex workers to visit their hotel.
Speaking in 2002, Brand described being mesmerised on their first night by "all those women in swimsuits," with Ron joking: "I wish I had my flippers." Brand went on to describe how some of the women began touching his private parts, while Ron looked on laughing. He then explained taking women back to his hotel room with his dad.
Online reaction to the clip
The pair appeared proud of their actions as Brand continued to describe their sexual activities on the trip while Ron smiled and laughed. Brand described their room as being full of half-filled champagne glasses and "signs of their [women] presence everywhere". He recalled: "I remember you reading the paper saying 'did you wear a condom with that bird last night?' and me saying 'oh, no, I never.'" Ron laughed as Brand acted out the scene of his dad saying: "You should have."
The clip prompted users to call out the pair's actions as "odd". One said: "Even as an adult, I couldn't watch a movie with nudity with my father. I can't comprehend what it would be like to go to a strip club with my father as a kid, much less to a brothel. WTF?"
Sentencing and background
Brand had previously written in his two autobiographies, published in 2007 and 2010, about his struggles with alcohol, drugs and sex addiction, as well as his "tumultuous" childhood and "strange" relationship with his father.
Following his sentencing on Monday, Brand was told he will be on the sex offenders register for life and must serve at least seven years of his sentence before being considered for release on license. Judge Mr Justice Joel Bennathan sentenced Brand for the rape of a fan and sexual assaults on three women, including a woman in a Soho bar, as well as a radio worker and a Channel 4 staffer, who were both abused by him while at work.
