Russell Brand's X account has posted a message thanking Elon Musk, two days after the comedian was jailed for rape and sexual assault. The post, shared with his 10 million followers, read: "There never was a Russell Brand, according to Meta. Thank God for Elon Musk." It added: "Stay tuned," suggesting more content was on the way.
Conviction and Sentencing
Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months on Monday after being convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He is being held at HMP Wandsworth. The comedian was labelled a "predator" by Judge Mr Justice Bennathan, who commended the women who came forward to speak out against him.
His Instagram and Facebook accounts were deleted by Meta, which disabled his access and stated: "We disabled your account. You no longer have access to russellbrand." The platform cited violations of its Community Standards and noted that all information would be permanently deleted, with no option to request another review. Previously, his Instagram profile had over 5 million followers and his Facebook page had 6.2 million.
Musk's Support
Musk has long championed Brand. Before sentencing, the billionaire shared a graphic featuring Brand alongside another rapist, placing quotation marks around the comedian's convictions and suggesting he faced "potential life in jail", despite the maximum sentence for rape in the UK being 10 to 15 years. Musk posted above the reshared graphic: "Unjust."
Musk's support dates back to 2023, when a joint investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches, The Times and The Sunday Times, in a documentary titled 'Russell Brand: In Plain Sight', brought allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotionally abusive conduct from five women. At the time, Brand denied the claims, and Musk stated: "I support Russell Brand. That man is not evil."
Political Reactions
Politicians, including Labour's Deputy Leader Lucy Powell and the First Minister of Scotland, voiced their reactions by Tuesday. Powell urged women to "come forward" and assured them they will be believed. John Swinney said Brand's actions have brought a "sharp focus" on the "violence and sexual abuse women experience every single day" and pledged to "tackle this scourge" and "to protect women and girls in Scotland".
