Russell Brand's team have shared a petition calling for 'justice' on his X account – hours after his Facebook and Instagram accounts had been shut down.
asserted
accounts → share → account
The disgraced comedian was jailed for ten-and-a-half years on Monday for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.
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comedian → jail → others
Posting to Brand's account on X, his team confirmed that Meta has closed his Instagram and Facebook accounts, where he had millions of followers.
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he → post → followers
Reacting to the closure of the accounts, Brand's X account said: 'There never was a Russell Brand, according to @meta.
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account → react → @meta
Brand's team have also shared a petition titled 'Free Russell Brand', in which an 'independent community of supporters from around the world' are 'calling for his right to challenge his convictions through lawful appeal procedures'.
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community → share → procedures
The petition reads: 'We recognise the seriousness of the offences and the rights and dignity of everyone involved.
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We → read → everyone
But we also believe that the right to appeal is a fundamental safeguard of justice.
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right → believe → justice
'
Described as an 'independent supporter-led campaign' and one not affiliated with Brand, 51, or his legal team, the petition has reached 5,000 signatures at the time of writing.
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petition → describe → writing
It continues: 'This campaign is about more than one individual.
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campaign → continue → individual
It is about the principles we believe should protect everyone.
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we → believe → everyone
Russell Brand's team have shared a petition calling for 'justice' on his X account
'
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team → share → account
A fair justice system must allow convictions to be challenged through established legal procedures.
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convictions → allow → procedures
'We do not call for harassment, intimidation or interference with witnesses or court proceedings.
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We → call → witnesses
We call for peaceful advocacy, informed discussion and respect for the law.'
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We → call → law
Brand's team have also posted screenshots of messages from Meta following the deactivation of his Instagram and Facebook accounts.
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team → post → accounts
The message read: 'Your account, or activity on it, doesn't follow our Community Standards.
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account → read → Standards
What this means: No one can see or find your account and you can't use it.
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you → mean → it
All your information will be permanently deleted.
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information → delete → ?
'You cannot request another review of this decision.'
An additional screenshot features another message from Meta that reads: 'How we made this decision.
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we → request → decision
Our technology found your account, or activity on it, doesn't follow our rules.
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account → find → rules
As a result, a member of our team took action.
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member → take → action
We use the same rules around the world, and for everyone on Instagram.'
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We → use → Instagram
With Brand currently behind bars at HMP Wandsworth, it is unclear who posted the message from Brand's X account.
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who → post → account
A spokesperson for Meta told the Daily Mail: 'Russell Brand’s accounts have been disabled in line with our Community Standards.'
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accounts → tell → Standards
Brand began his career as a TV presenter and comedian and later became a Hollywood star, appearing in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hop and the Despicable Me franchise.
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Brand → begin → Marshall
Over his two-decade career, he also cemented his status in the spotlight through his marriage to singer Katy Perry, and his subsequent appearances on TV, radio, stage and podcasts.
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he → cement → TV
He is expected to serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before being released on licence, and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.
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He → expect → life
Sarah Sackman KC, the courts and legal services minister, has since called for his conviction to serve as a catalyst for eliminating myths from the justice process.
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conviction → call → process
'The events of this week in the Russell Brand trial represent a watershed moment, where we should be looking to transform the culture in our courts,' she said.
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she → represent → courts
'We don't want our courts to become sites of retraumatisation, where the complainant and victims feel like they're the ones that are being put on trial.'
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that → want → trial
In his closing speech, Brand's defence barrister Ian Winter KC argued the comedian was not a rapist because his accusers had not 'resisted or screamed or even tried to leave'.
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accusers → argue → speech
He also argued that Brand leaving his phone number and email address behind pointed to him being not guilty.
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him → argue → number
Brand was convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan he picked out of the crowd after one of his Hammersmith Apollo gigs in 2009.
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he → convict → 2009
Brand outside Southwark Crown Court with his wife Laura Gallacher, on the day he was found guilty of his crimes
Overawed by Brand's fame, the woman agreed to go to the star's £2.3million Hampstead mansion a few days later for sex.
But she said the encounter started with Brand unnervingly forcing her to strip, shower and brush her teeth before they went to bed together.
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they → find → bed
Brand, then 33, pushed the woman face down into a pillow on his 'enormous' bed and removed his condom while raping her, leaving her struggling to breathe.
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Brand → push → her
She was left bleeding and afterwards said Brand ordered her to 'clean up the mess you've made', before switching on the TV to watch the sci-fi series Quantum Leap.
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you → leave → series
During the trial, Riel Karmy-Jones, prosecuting, said women were a 'disposable commodity' to the comedian, whom she dubbed 'a sexual predator'.
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she → prosecute → whom
'They didn't matter to him.
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They → matter → him
He didn't even need to know their names.
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He → need → names
The woman recounted that she later told Brand: 'You treated me like an animal,' and that he replied: 'I'm sorry.'
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I → recount → animal
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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