Dispatches channel 4 expose **Read Opening Post before posting**

It's not so much celebrity power, but financial and legal power. The girl who was 16 at the time of her incident stated that she tried to contact Brand's agents about it within the last year or so, and Brand's lawyers threatened legal action. The woman who accused Brand of rape in America and got a rape kit done the next day didn't name him in it because he was a celebrity. A third woman who accused him of sexual assault said he threatened her with legal action if she told people.

Just because we're now in a post-Weinstein world doesn't change any of those facts.

Yes, people can be too quick to condemn. Huw Edward's story wasn't based on a lengthy investigation with statements from the accuser, it was media driving speculation and misrepresenting facts to make it seem more salacious than it was. Similar to Philip Schofield where media speculation about the age and circumstances around who he was having an affair with caused the damage rather than actual facts. On the other hand, Mason Greenwood was literally on video recorded committing his acts, but his ex decided not to press charges, and key witnesses for other charges he was facing withdrew so the charges were dropped.

Celebrity power doesn't provide immunity, it never has. But it can provide enough of a threat of reprisal to make people decide they may not have enough evidence to come forward, even in a post-Weinstein world.

The relentless politicisation of this looks really cynical to me.

Many third parties clearly feel they have something to gain from this scandal and trying to profit from it: not in money, but in political capital.

Like the guy above saying everyone on Twitter who hasn't immediately condemned Brand as guilty is angry about the election being stolen from Trump. How could anyone possibly know that in the first place? What tripe.

Anyone can promote themselves as a brave defender of women but that would be more convincing if these posters weren't also trying to use this episode as a move in an unrelated political chess game.

Anyway I'm just repeating myself now. So I'm out

All of these threads are exactly the same. 🙄

I would guess that the accuser has to report the crime to the police and then agree to be a witness. This would be intimidating for anyone if you believe you are going against a rich person who will have the best lawyers and resources to attack you.

Why haven't they gone to the police? That's the question that lots of people can't seem to understand. It's so simple, just go down to the police station.

They were afraid, they thought their career would be ruined, they were ashamed and embarrassed that they were in that situation, they didn't want every little graphic detail of their sex life brought up and plastered across newspapers so their whole family and neighbours could read, they don't want to be humiliated by a highly paid legal team who literally work at humiliating victims of sexual assault, knowing its almost impossible to get a conviction against a normal guy in the street so it must be extremely difficult against a guy with resources like Brand, knowing that if you even spoke publicly you might not get work, not wanting to relive the trauma, afraid of being blamed by the media and the public, everything dug up from their past to discredit them, knowing that a jury is made up of 12 people and chances are 4 of 5 will be people who will say "she was asking for it", just wanting to move on with their lives at the time because it can take years to talk about a trauma like rape.

Ye know, I find 2 arguments ridiculous in this. The "why didn't they go to the police" and "they want to silence him because he's telling the truth about big pharma". Both just need 30 seconds of thinking about to realise how ridiculous they are

Of course I can complain.

I don't agree with Brand and his followers' cynicism, and I don't agree with YOUR cynicism.

He and his followers have obvious motives in deflecting if they can, and people like yourself - though subtler - instead of saying 'actually this is a criminal matter, you can't hide behind politics' run with the political angle because it becomes a chance then to discredit the views you don't like. Views which in fact have nothing to do with (alleged?) historical crimes committed between 2006 and 2013.

Being accused of anything in the media is stressful. But they report the news. The onus is on the media to have trusted sources that can back them up because Brand has been letigious and has money to sue.

I can put myself in Brands shoes if he's innocent.

I can also see from my 16 year olds niece perspective. I don't know if I'd be so patient and trusting in the police and courts to find justice.

I think it was Tom Wolfe who pointed out that right wing conservatives will be the first to complain about liberal, soft courts, but be very damn glad of those protections and rights when it's them in the dock.

I think it is more odd people are focusing on that on not the allegation of oral rape. Which AFAIK is the same as rape in England.

The age difference and power dynamics in my opinion is wholly inappropriate. But that would be my moral compass, at the end of the day it is not illegal. Rape is.

What you're saying is that if somebody introduces cynical bad faith bullshit (as Brand and his followers have done) then anybody who tries to call that out for what it is is "as bad". What nonsense.

Your post is a classic example of the bad faith both sidesing that bedevils media today and it is as cynical as they come.

And fair enough if that’s what they think- personally I don’t think it’s the best option hard and all as the alternative is-

It’s certainly an option most people who have been sexually assaulted don’t get - it’s only a handful number of times this has happened and mostly in America to date - Weinstein and Cosby being the two most prolific and high profile ones - it still remains that legally Brand is an innocent man, these are allegations - will this publicity and what’s happened to Bfand since the programme encourage said victims to make a criminal complaint to the authorities? We’ll have to wait and see.