Russell Brand and the Allegations from the Sunday Times
Mr. Brand stands accused of rape, abuse and harassment
Jim Lehrer was a great journalist of the late 20th and early 21st century. He was so well respected that he hosted 12 presidential debates between 1988 and 2012. As the host of PBS Newshour, he felt it was his duty to share with his viewers, “what principles guide [his] work, and the process [he used] in their practice.” For that reason, he famously published, “Jim Lehrer’s Rules of Journalism.” One of these rules has been completely lost in today’s media:
“Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously.”
In today’s social media world, news organizations - in order to stay relevant - focus almost exclusively on clicks, impressions and unique users rather than facts, ethics and high moral standard. As a new publication, we here at “The Country” understand the pressures to produce results and revenues before the business becomes unviable.
At the same time, journalism has suffered. The need for speed has forced erstwhile journalists to move fast and ignore the rules. They focus on getting a story - any story - out before their competition and far too often publish anonymous sources that turn out to be wrong. And most readers are skeptical any time an anonymous source is employed. There is far too much risk that these anonymous sources (and their allies in the media, unfortunately) have an alternative agenda that is well served by attacking the subject of the “news.” These “journalists” consistently produce accusations that Mr. Lehrer would never consider, including anonymous reports of potential criminal activity that occurred well in the past. This inevitably leads to problems, but they sure do drive clicks and revenue.
Which brings us to Russell Brand. The Sunday Times and the BBC’s Channel 4 Dispatches have recently published allegations accusing Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault and abuse that occurred between 10 and 17 years ago. Mr. Brand, while admitting his self-documented extreme promiscuity and drug addiction in a new video, also categorically denies all of the criminal allegations and claims there are witnesses that directly refute these allegations. It is unclear, at this point, which side of the story to believe; but as another of Mr. Lehrer’s rules dictates, “assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.”
In 2017, the #MeToo movement took center stage in the national zeitgeist. For years, women in Hollywood have been sexually harassed, abused and raped by awful men of power. Thanks to some early, brave souls, the movement took off and exposed this sort of awful behavior across society and around the world. The New York Times has tracked over 200 men (and a few women) who have had to face the consequences for their bad conduct, and rightfully so. This was a necessary wake up call in the way women are treated in the workplace and elsewhere.
But sometimes movements go too far. Kevin Spacey was kicked off of “House of Cards” but was recently acquitted, in separate cases in London and New York. Johnny Depp won his defamation case in which his former wife Amber Herd accused him of “domestic abuse.” Most believe Al Franken was an unnecessary (though self-inflicted) victim of the movement. And Brett Kavanugh sits on the Supreme Court despite continued controversy, as the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigators could find, “no witness who could provide any verifiable evidence to support any of the allegations brought against Justice Kavanaugh.”
This is not an attempt to justify any sexual misconduct, harassment or abuse. We condemn any sort of this type of behavior in the strongest terms. But we need to remind our dear readers that the clauses in the Constitution to protect citizens against false allegations are real and extremely important. These include the presumption of innocence, the right to due process, the right to a speedy trial by a jury of one’s peers and a right to confront one’s accusers. Mr. Brand, thus far, has had no opportunity to any of these fundamental rights in these recent accusations, and most importantly, the BBC reports that there have been no police reports filed in relation to these allegations. Again from the BBC:
“While not referring to the comedian by name, the Metropolitan Police said it was ‘aware of media reporting of a series of allegations of sexual assault’ but had not received any reports.”
Further troubling is the age of the accusations. Studies of human memory and witness testimony call into question eyewitness accounts, especially when the testimony involves cases of sexual abuse long in the past. The human brain is simply not a reliable source of record for these details and is fraught with error.
More uncertainty is caused by the nature of Mr. Brand’s recent work, which makes him a prime target for censorship and cancellation. His shows on Rumble lately have included investigations into Bill Gates, Big Pharma, the CIA, the origins of COVID and JFK’s assassination. While we’ve seen no evidence of a coordinated hit, Mr. Brand is building a following and may have a number of powerful enemies. This would not be the first time an effort is made to silence opposing views by smear tactics. Indeed, YouTube (which is a consistent suppressor of right wing political speech, but continues to support Harvey Weinstein movies) has already de-monitized Mr. Brand’s channel on its network, due process be damned.
The allegations against Mr. Brand are serious and important. If indeed evidence exists he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But since these alleged incidences are so old and there has not been any police report filed, at this time we must seriously advocate for Mr. Brand’s innocence until proven otherwise. #TheCountry has much more pressing matters to address.
Concurrently we’ve printed the Lehrer rules here at #TheCountry, and we promise to strive to follow them to the best of our ability. We hope that when we fall short, we hear from you and that you give us an opportunity to correct our mistakes. That is how this whole thing is supposed to work.
jw