His openly misogynistic behaviour, detailed at length in his own memoir, did not deter the Left's most prominent figures from cosying up to Russell Brand.
asserted
behaviour → detail → Brand
Nor did the infamous 2008 'Sachsgate' scandal in which Brand, on his BBC Radio 2 show, left voicemails for Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, boasting of how he had slept with Sachs's granddaughter.
asserted
he → leave → granddaughter
Instead, from the likes of Andy Burnham to Ed Miliband, the now-convicted rapist was lauded for his anti-Tory and anti-establishment image that made him a darling of the Left.
asserted
him → convict → Left
In 2014, Mr Burnham, then shadow health secretary, tweeted his support for Brand and praised him for using his celebrity status 'to help others'.
asserted
Burnham → tweet → others
The then-Labour leader Mr Miliband also courted Brand's support ahead of the 2015 election, being interviewed by the comedian in his £2million penthouse.
asserted
leader → court → penthouse
The Guardian, meanwhile, asked: 'Could Russell Brand win it for Labour?', while their columnist Owen Jones wrote that 'Russell Brand matters'.
uncertain
Brand → ask → Labour
Brand's 2007 memoir, My Booky Wook, in which he described writing a 'victims list' of women he had 'wronged as a result of my sexual addiction', was serialised in The Guardian.
asserted
he → describe → Guardian
After The Sun newspaper accused the actor and comedian of 'hypocrisy' over his housing arrangements in 2014, Mr Burnham jumped to his defence.
asserted
Burnham → accuse → defence
The paper had claimed that he was renting a luxury London home through a British Virgin Islands-registered company while criticising tax avoidance.
asserted
he → claim → avoidance
Brand threatened to sue but never did.
asserted
Brand → threaten → ?
Pictured: Russell Brand interviewing then-Labour leader Ed Miliband shortly before the 2015 general election
Mr Miliband also courted Brand's support ahead of the 2015 election, being interviewed by the comedian in his £2million penthouse
Miliband outside Brand's London house in 2015
asserted
Miliband → picture → 2015
Mr Burnham tweeted that day: 'Depressing to see media mission to discredit someone who stops playing their game and uses celebrity to help others.
asserted
who → tweet → others
The now-PM also praised a piece written by Brand for The Guardian about Margaret Thatcher, in which he said: 'I always felt sorry for her children.'
asserted
I → praise → children
The piece caused outcry at the time and is still on the paper's website.
asserted
piece → cause → website
Despite this, Mr Burnham posted a link to the article in 2013, describing it as the 'best thing ever written by a West Ham fan'.
asserted
Burnham → post → fan
On Thursday night, Labour sources pointed out that Mr Burnham's comments were from more than a decade before Brand's conviction.
asserted
comments → point → conviction
Brand's interview with Mr Miliband during the 2015 general election campaign constituted one of the most extraordinary political courtships.
Following the embarrassing 'EdStone' of election pledges, and with postal votes not going his way, Mr Miliband agreed to appear on Brand's YouTube channel in a bid to appeal to the 'yoof'.
asserted
Miliband → constitute → yoof
At the time it was known he had been charged with, but not convicted of, indecent exposure early in his career, dressed as Osama bin Laden the day after 9/11 and was sacked for reading porn live on the radio.
asserted
he → know → radio
He had also previously been condemned by then-PM Gordon Brown following 'Sachsgate'.
asserted
He → condemn → Sachsgate
Yet the interview was arranged by Mr Miliband's then-chief of staff, Lucy Powell – now Education Secretary – nine days before polling day.
asserted
interview → arrange → day
Brand was then attempting to present himself as an anti-
capitalist revolutionary, despite living a life of multi-million-pound mansions, private jets, an on-call hair stylist and chauffeur.
asserted
Brand → attempt → call
Subsequently, Brand endorsed Labour and urged people to vote.
asserted
Brand → endorse → people
Labour went on to have its worst election result since 1987.
asserted
Labour → go → 1987
However, Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former director of communications, congratulated Mr Miliband on the interview.
asserted
Campbell → congratulate → interview
He said at the time: 'I, for one, was glad when I heard Ed Miliband had said yes...
asserted
Miliband → say → one
what Russell Brand says and does matters more than what The Sun, the Mail, The Telegraph, the Star and the Express are going to say on election day.
asserted
Sun → say → day
Mr Miliband considered the interview to have been a success at the time, saying: 'People criticise Russell Brand, and I don't agree with his message, but what he's saying, a number of people are thinking, which is that politics doesn't feel like it speaks to them.'
Brand himself summed it up as 'very interesting… says a lot about Ed Miliband that he understands the way the media works now, the way that the country feels at the moment, that he was prepared to come round here and talk to us'.
asserted
he → consider → us
He said 'what's important is this bloke will be in Parliament and I think this bloke will listen to us, so on May 7, vote Labour'.
uncertain
bloke → say → Labour
At the time, Brand was famously apathetic and said he had never voted.
asserted
he → say → time
The Guardian wrote several pieces about the 'Milibrand' interview and asked 'could Russell Brand win it for Labour?'.
uncertain
Brand → write → Labour
Guardian columnist Mr Jones wrote a fawning piece on it, arguing: 'Ed Miliband's best route to young voters is Russell Brand.'
While he noted Brand has 'acknowledged his own problematic attitude towards women', he said Mr Miliband should be 'commended for his bravery' in being interviewed by the comedian.
asserted
Miliband → write → comedian
Mr Jones also wrote: 'Russell Brand has endorsed Labour – and the Tories should be worried,' adding: 'Russell Brand matters.'
Mr Miliband said had he known then what he knows now, he 'wouldn't have done that interview, and I regret doing it'.
asserted
I → write → it
Last night, his spokesman declined to comment.
asserted
spokesman → decline → ?
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant posted a fawning tweet in 2013 saying Brand had 'shone with intelligence on TV last night'.
asserted
Brand → post → TV
Former minister Jess Phillips – who campaigns for women's rights – posted that same year: 'Tried to join @rustyrockets revolution, am waiting to hear.'
asserted
who → campaign → revolution
Former Tory Cabinet minister Gavin Williamson said: 'Sachsgate was no secret.
asserted
Sachsgate → say → ?
Everyone knew who Russell Brand was, yet Labour's great and good queued up to be photographed with him.
asserted
great → know → him
'Miliband wanted the clicks, Burnham wanted the cheers, and nobody wanted to ask the obvious question.
asserted
nobody → want → question
Judgment matters in politics, and Labour's has been found wanting yet again.'
asserted
Labour → matter → politics
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: 'Russell Brand spoke arrant nonsense, yet too many played up to his media profile and sought publicity by involving themselves in his notorious attitudes and extreme comments.
asserted
many → say → attitudes
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
