This isn't a defence of Brand, but I'm sure the media could do an investigation into almost any male celebrity and find lots of behaviour some would deem inappropriate. Look at Mendy, although his charges came through direct reporting to the police from the alleged victims and not media speculation.
At the height of Brands fame women were queuing up to sleep with him. Now, guilty or innocent his career is over, the same as Mendy's effectively was/is.
Hard as I've no doubt it would have been the women involved should have reported him to the police. All this is now is hearsay and a smear campaign. At the height of his fame was he off his head a lot, shag loads of women and behave like a **** at times? I'd probably say yes. So have loads of famous and non famous people. That's life. Anyone who considers a crime was committed against them by him should go to the police. That's it.
I am not sure the media could do a four year investigation in to almost any male celebrity and find reputable accusations of rape and (separately) forcing a 16 year-old girl to give them a blowjob, among other allegations. Nor would I suspect most would classify that as merely “inappropriate” behaviour or behaving like a **** at times. And I certainly don’t think the acts he is being accused of by the women from the exposé (or the additional women who have come forward since it aired) would be classified by most as just a matter of life. At least, I certainly hope not — I would hate to be in the minority with that opinion. And I definitely won’t be teaching my son that is the case.
I have explained why many women legitimately do not go to the police when these incidents occur (the reasons for which are even stronger the further back in time you go) and I don’t think the Dispatch findings could be called “hearsay” (rumours) given the firsthand accounts and supporting evidence.
I am also not sure who would be trying to smear him and for what purpose. His career had been waning for some years—a fact often attributed to why he had jarringly transitioned from left-leaning to pretty firmly conspiracy-peddling far-right provocateur content, appealing to an increasingly niche audience (which many attribute to him actually being fairly apolitical and just drifting to wherever the grifting was good)—and he wasn’t really a particular threat to any entity, apart from women generally, it seems.
If women writ-large have put aside their many differences and conflicts to unite to “smear” his character and destroy his career I would imagine they likely have a pretty good reason.
Given the type of following he has recently cultivated, I would also be very surprised if his career is over, even if formal charges are eventually brought. From what I have seen of responses thus far—coupled with how these sorts of allegations/charges have played out with other major celebrities operating within that conspiracy-heavy, largely misogynistic sphere—it tends to actually entrench and amplify support, as the wagons driven by the “true believers” circle to protect their would-be martyrs.
Very few among that crowd will break rank and, ultimately, he’ll likely gain more in reputation than lose it. Seeing as that sphere has been the main source of his income in recent years, I am sure he’ll survive if he isn’t prosecuted (and, given the track record of the far-right, he might even be able to squeak by from prison).
There’s even an argument to be made that this is the most attention and engagement he has gotten in quite some time, so if he can ride out the portion of this that is negative, he could come out the other side in a stronger position than before. I am sure there are at least one or two ethically dubious PR strategist telling him exactly that.
It’s a horrible thought, but it has happened before, especially recently, unfortunately, at least for now (Alex Jones, Andrew Tate, Donald Trump, etc.).
His new bedfellows are really not put off by allegations of horrible acts against women. In fact, for a great portion of them, it is a premium feature, not a fatal flaw.
