Jo Whiley has revealed that Russell Brand left her a message in her show book that she now wants to tear out and burn. The broadcaster, 61, discussed the disgraced comedian with her friend Zoe Ball, 55, on the Dig It podcast after Brand was jailed this week for ten and a half years.
Brand was found guilty of raping a fan in 2009 and sexually assaulting three other women over the course of five years. Whiley said she "cried" for Brand's victims when the verdict was announced on Monday.
Message in the show book
During the conversation, Whiley explained that she has a "show book" that guests sign when they appear on her show. In the book, Brand wrote that Whiley was a MILF, an acronym for Mother I'd Like to F**k, referring to an attractive older woman who has children.
"I've got a show book that people sign my book when they come on the show and I've got a signature from Russell," Whiley said. "It's got the word; he just refers to me as a MILF, and I feel like I keep looking at the bookshelf. It's like it's burning a hole in my bookshelf at the moment."
Emotional reaction to verdict
Whiley added: "I'm sitting in the living room like those words are there. I'm going to have to tear the page out and burn it. I really am because it just makes me shudder but that was what you expected I think when you met him."
Fans have praised Whiley for sharing her story. One wrote: "Jo - please don't tear that particular page out of your showbook. I know it's incredibly distasteful to even think it exists in your presence but it's an important reminder of RB's unacceptable behaviour in all of its variants." Another said: "Glad you covered the Russell Brand conviction and helpful that you too felt emotional."
After Brand's conviction was read aloud in court, Whiley said she cried alongside her 18-year-old daughter, Coco. She explained: "It just felt seismic. It felt extraordinarily important and there seems to have been since then this lament from women. I've just seen it over and over again and I cried."
Impact on women
Whiley continued: "It's for every woman who's ever been at the hands of somebody who's abused them, whether it's sexual or domestic. I think for everyone it just felt like this massive empathy amongst women and from men as well. I think this kind of understanding of the effect that this kind of behaviour has had on generation after generation of women."
Ball said: "I found it so harrowing. I think everybody has, I think it's been a real sort of collective feeling of you know horror and upset and then ultimately I guess relief that finally something has something big has happened that you hope is going to help women. I think the thing that really struck me during this trial was the harrowing detail that these incredible, brave women had to go through at the hands of the defence as well."
Brand 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 at which Brand had been performing at a cabaret show.
In court, the judge blasted Brand's "staggering arrogance" and labelled him a "sexual predator" who exploited his status to target fans. Mr Justice Bentham accused the star of showing a "casual, arrogant disregard for any woman’s right to say no".
