Russell Brand was dealt a major blow at the UK’s Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, November 5, after being found guilty of four of the seven charges brought against him following a weeks-long trial involving multiple women.
As the verdict brought renewed attention to the allegations against the 51-year-old comedian, a 2023 post by fellow comedian Samantha Pressdee, in which she defended him, also resurfaced and gained traction online.
Highlights
- J.K. Rowling appeared to take a swipe at comedian Samantha Pressdee over her resurfaced post defending Russell Brand.
- Pressdee questioned Rowling’s stance on sisterhood and continued to raise doubts about the fairness of Brand’s trial.
- The comedian expressed sympathy for Brand’s wife and children while standing by her views despite the criticism.
The post eventually caught the attention of J.K. Rowling, with the Harry Potter author appearing to take aim at Pressdee in a brief but pointed response without mentioning her by name.
“Your argument makes as much sense as saying ‘Well, I left 25 Cromwell Street alive, so Fred West’s innocent,” she remarked.
J.K. Rowling seemingly took a swipe at Samantha Pressdee after her post defending Russell Brand resurfaced
Six complainants took the stand during the Russell Brand trial, which ran between October 14 and November 3, and testified about their encounters with him between 1999 and 2009.
One woman told the court that he grabbed her breasts shortly after meeting her at a bar in 2004 before taking her to the bathroom and forcing her to make oral contact.
“I pushed him away, and he said, ‘come on, come on, don’t be a spoilsport,’” the woman recalled.
Another complainant, who described herself as a former fan of the comedian, said she had consented to one form of intimate act but not what followed in 2009.
She also challenged the suggestion that visiting someone's home amounted to consenting to everything that happened there.
Their accounts differed considerably from Pressdee’s description of her own encounter with Brand, which she shared publicly in 2023.
“I refused to have s*x with Russell Brand. I was in his London flat. There was a lot of heavy petting, and we were both down to our pants. He didn’t pressure me when I said no,” she said.
She added that Brand did not get “angry or a**sive” at any point after her refusal, making her feel safe enough to spend the night at his home.
On November 6, a day after the verdict was announced, Rowling appeared to address the post, writing, “Publicly announcing that the Russell Brand conviction must be wrong because you went home with him and he didn’t r*pe you makes about as much sense as saying ‘well, I left 25 Cromwell Street alive, so Fred West was innocent.”
For those unfamiliar with the reference, Fred West was a notorious British criminal linked to at least 12 victims between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire.
His home at 25 Cromwell Street eventually became known as the House of Horrors after multiple dismembered bodies were unearthed from its cellar, patio, and garden.
Pressdee, however, was quick to double down on her position following the author's remarks.
Samantha Pressdee questioned Rowling’s stance on sisterhood and suggested Brand may not have received a fair trial
In a direct response to Rowling on X, Pressdee said she “could have done with” the author's support when she faced backlash for expressing her views on gender identity.
She followed up with a pointed question about whether solidarity among women depended on sharing the same beliefs.
The comedian maintained that she was “entitled to disagree” with the prevailing narrative surrounding Brand, while also questioning whether he had received a fair hearing.
The fairness of the proceedings, for the record, had also been challenged by Brand’s defense barrister, Ian Winter, who argued that the allegations had been “thoroughly contaminated” by the media coverage preceding the trial.
Pressdee further claimed that she had contacted the comedian’s legal team and offered to serve as “a character witness,” but “never heard back” from them.
She also questioned why the complainants had spoken to the media rather than approaching the police with their accounts.
Samantha Pressdee expressed sympathy for Brand’s family while standing by her support for him
The allegations against Brand first gained widespread attention through a Channel 4 documentary and subsequent press interviews with the victims, rather than conventional police complaints.
Addressing this, Pressdee wrote in one of several X posts following the verdict, “Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I should believe all women.”
She continued, “I would be more likely to believe women who report criminals to the police. Not the media decades later.”
The comedian reiterated her doubts about the fairness of the proceedings before turning her attention to the impact of the verdict on Brand’s family.
“A wife is without her husband. Three children are without their Dad. Yet everyone thinks the real victim in this is a drunk groupie, who was cheating on her boyfriend. Someone who has anonymity for life and will probably get a financial payout,” she wrote.
She also questioned why the complainant had not intervened if she believed Brand posed a danger to other women.
“If this drunk groupie thought he was a predator, why would she stand by and watch him sleep with 1000s more women? Didn’t she care about those women?” she asked.
Meanwhile, Brand had maintained throughout the proceedings that all his intimate encounters with the women who came forward had been consensual.
Brand described consent as essential when he was allowed to testify in the case
Taking the stand during the trial, Brand told jurors that he remembered meetings with some of the women but had no recollection of others.
Although he acknowledged that he had “misused” his fame “very very selfishly,” he said that none of his intimate relationships had been forced.
He also told the court that consent was important to every encounter, describing it as “fundamental” and “necessary.”
Going further, he said it was “in many ways more important than s*x itself.”
However, his remarks did not persuade the jury to clear him of all the charges.
Russell Brand was remanded into custody as the judge warned him of a significant term
Following the announcement of the verdicts, Justice Bennathan addressed Brand and his legal team regarding the next steps in the proceedings.
He emphasized the seriousness of the findings, particularly the conviction on the sixth count, which concerned forced intimacy.
“The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term,” the judge stated.
He subsequently indicated that he was not inclined to grant Brand bail and ordered that he be remanded into custody.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Monday, November 9.
"The worst person you know just made a great point," a netizen said about Rowling's comments
