Russell Brand has been found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault on four women, following a four-week trial that ended with a conviction on Thursday, November 6. The 51-year-old comedian was immediately remanded into custody to face a "significant custodial term."
Reaction to the verdict
As a GB News panel discussed the sentencing, former Conservative MP Louise Mensch criticised Brand's attitude towards women and referenced a controversial "prank call" to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, which reportedly forced then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown to intervene.
Mensch said: "It shows the entitlement of these men. When he was told he was going to be immediately remanded in custody, he looked shocked."
Prank call controversy
Mensch recalled the 2008 incident involving Brand and Jonathan Ross, where Brand made offensive remarks about Sachs's granddaughter. She said: "He laughed at him down the phone and broadcast it, saying, 'I had sex with your granddaughter,' and really humiliated him in a way that wasn't funny and was actually just cruel and nasty."
She added: "At the time, that was a fairly big scandal and people concentrated on Jonathan Ross because Jonathan Ross was the guy that had radio show on the BBC. Perhaps we should have taken a look more at Russell Brand actually being the prime mover behind that phone call and not caring whatsoever about the people that he hurt."
Highlighting his attitude, the former MP added: "Taking a girl that he's slept with, betraying her privacy and mocking her grandfather, he was just a nasty piece of work."
