Russell Brand has posted a message to Elon Musk on X from prison, thanking the billionaire after Meta removed his Instagram and Facebook accounts following his conviction for rape and sexual assault.
The 51-year-old comedian was jailed for 10 and a half years after a jury found him guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two further rape charges and one charge of attempted indecent assault.
Sentencing Brand on Monday, November 9, Mr Justice Bennathan criticised his "staggering arrogance". Brand is expected to serve two-thirds of his sentence before release on licence and will remain on the sex offenders' register for life.
Social media accounts deactivated
Following his imprisonment, Brand's Instagram account was taken down and Meta also deactivated his Facebook account, although posts have continued to appear on his X account.
Two days after being sent to HMP Wandsworth, Brand's X account, which has 10 million followers, posted: "There never was a Russell Brand, according to Meta. Thank God for Elon Musk." The post ended with "Stay tuned," hinting at further updates.
Alongside the message, the account reshared an email from Meta that read: "We disabled your account. You no longer have access to russellbrand." The email added: "Your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our Community Standards. No one can see or find your account, and you can’t use it. All your information will be permanently deleted."
Support from Donald Trump Jr
Before its suspension, Brand's Instagram account had more than 5 million followers, while his Facebook account had 6.2 million followers.
Donald Trump Jr. defended Brand on Tuesday's edition of his Triggered programme, suggesting the comedian had been targeted because of his faith and shift towards conservative politics.
"When he was like married to Katy Perry, he's one of the most famous actors in the world, no one seemed to have a problem. No one seemed to think he was a rapist then. But he finds God, I guess, changes his ways, sees some aspects of conservative life and talks about them. And now he's going to spend ... years in prison for rape when no one had a problem with it in the prior 27 years," Trump said.
Following Brand's sentencing, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that further criminal allegations against him had been made since the start of his trial. The force said several people had been in contact during and after the case, providing further information or reporting potential criminal allegations, and detectives are assessing the information as part of ongoing inquiries.
