Lorraine Kelly has condemned the people around Russell Brand who allowed his behaviour to continue, saying that "nobody said, 'stop it'" after the comedian was convicted of rape and sexual assault.
Speaking on ITV's Lorraine on Friday, Kelly discussed Brand's conviction with guest Lucy Cave, describing it as a "total fall from grace" and saying she did not think anyone was surprised.
Conviction and Sentencing
Brand, 51, was remanded at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, where Mr Justice Bennathan warned he faced a "significant custodial sentence". Jurors unanimously convicted him of offences against four women between 2004 and 2009.
He was found guilty of raping a 21-year-old woman he met after a comedy performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting an MTV employee at a Soho bar, a woman at the Choice FM studios, and a Channel 4 worker who had been instructed to give him a massage.
Acquittals on Other Charges
Brand had faced seven charges in total: three of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault. He was acquitted of raping a woman at a hotel in Bournemouth in 1999 during the Labour Party conference, and cleared of an attempted indecent assault charge after being accused of grabbing a woman's arm and dragging her towards a toilet in central London in 2001.
He was also acquitted of orally raping a woman in a bar toilet in London, an attack alleged to have occurred while the pair were attending a birthday celebration in Soho.
Kelly's Reaction
On Friday's show, Kelly said: "Well, Lucy Cave is here. I mean, this is a total fall from grace. Of course, it is. You've met him like I have. I don't think anyone was surprised."
Cave replied: "I don't think they were. But I think, as you say, the fall from grace is at an extraordinary scale. I think because he started off as a presenter, a comedian, he started off in Big Brother's Big Mouth when I first met him. You know, he went on to do numerous different things: he was on telly, he was on radio; he sort of was all over the place, and then he hit massive global fame in Hollywood. He was in films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Arthur..."
Kelly described his behaviour as "dreadful" before Cave discussed Brand's marriage to Katy Perry and his conduct when he became famous.
Kelly commented: "It was like the worse he behaved, the more famous he became. Yeah, and he was very open about the fact that he... I can't say the word. But he, you know, he went through women, if you like. Yeah, I mean, he was saying that. Shall we say promiscuous?"
Cave added: "And I think that's the thing. He sort of almost...a lot of celebrities become famous for a role. He was famous for being Russell Brand, and that was almost something that people used in his defence. It was like, 'that's just Russell'."
Kelly went on: "That's it because I mean, when anybody tried to complain, and a lot of female comedians did, and a lot of people as well, they were told, 'it's just his shtick, that's just Russell'. And I have to say, I feel the people around him who allowed this are shameful. They really are; they allowed him to be like that, and nobody said, 'stop it'."
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9.30am on ITV.
