The mainstream media in Britain have attempted this week to turn Russell Brand into their very own Joe Rogan-style figure of controversy, labelling the self-avowed leftist English comedian as a peddler of “misinformation” and the “Mad Hatter of conspiracy theories”.
This week, two major British newspapers likened Forgetting Sarah Marshall star and comedian turned YouTube commentator Russell Brand to American comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan, who prior to the war in Ukraine became a fixation of the establishment media for his refusal to follow the party-line on various issues, most notably around the Chinese coronavirus and vaccination.
Like Rogan, Brand has become a vocal critic of the official narratives surrounding vaccinations, lockdowns, and other draconian measures put in place during the pandemic. In a rebuttal video to the latest MSM hit jobs on him, Brand welcomed the association with his American counterpart, saying: “Joe Rogan is a triumphant voice in a difficult space, I love Joe Rogan, I won’t deny that.”
Both comedians have said they are on the political left, with each espousing some far-left positions on policies such as universal basic income — nevertheless, both Brand and Rogan have found themselves being characterised as “right-wing” by the press.
Commenting on the confounding situation, Brand said in a YouTube video on Thursday: “I am labelled a conspiracy theorist, charged with being a right-wing person, I know some of you [viewers] are right-wing people and guess what, I don’t mind what you believe in.
“I’m sure you believe stuff that I don’t believe and you know stuff I don’t know and perhaps together we will discover that we have more and more in common… and that our culture is operating to keep us separated from one another.”
The English stand-up comedian surmised that the recent attacks against him in the mainstream media came as a result of his criticisms of the draconian crackdown against Canadian “freedom convoy” protesters — and their financial supporters — by the supposedly liberal administration of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Brand said that Trudeau’s use of emergency powers — initially devised to be used in cases of terrorism — to target the bank accounts of the members of a “peaceful trucker protest smacks of the kind of authoritarianism that might diminish his right to overtly condemn anti-democratic actions elsewhere.”
He went on to note that previous legacy media attacks have accused him of “being anti-vax simply for saying unvaccinated people might have rights” and for entertaining the possibility of the Wuhan lab leak theory being true.
“I’ve never said that I’m anti-vax,” Brand said. “What I’ve said is that perhaps people that are reluctant to become vaccinated shouldn’t be treated as criminals condemned and treated as social pariahs,” he explained, noting that many unvaccinated people come from impoverished or ethnic minority backgrounds which could justify them being “cynical” and “mistrustful” about the government and big corporations.
One MSM outlet to target the outspoken comedian was ex-newspaper The Independent, which chastised Brand for peddling “poorly sourced controversy-mongering” views on issues such as the war in Ukraine or the Canadian trucker movement in order to allegedly “drum up ticket sales” and to boost his profile.
The article went on to allege that “Last year’s ‘So…Trump was RIGHT About Clinton & Russia Collusion!!’ featured some particularly egregious mistruths.”
However, as Mr Brand pointed out in his rebuttal video, the article, like others, fails to specifically explain what “mistruths” were uttered.
Brand went on to criticise the ex-paper, pointing out that The Independent as well as The Evening Standard have been accused by the British government of being partially owned by the Saudi Arabian state after it was revealed that Sultan Mohamed Abuljadayel — who is believed to have close ties with the ruling Saudi royal family — bought large stakes in them.
Both outlets have denied that financial backers have any role in editorial decisions, but Brand quipped: “If you’re called The Independent and you’re funded by the Saudi Arabian state, you ain’t even got past the title without lying.”
The comedian has seen some rally to his support, with billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk replying to The Independent on social media: “With so many mainstream media companies saying [Russell Brand] is crazy/dangerous, I watched some of his videos. Ironically, he seemed more balanced & insightful than those condemning him!”
“The groupthink among major media companies is more troubling. There should be more dissent,” he added.
The supposedly right-leaning Telegraph newspaper, which has close ties to the Tory government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, also targetted Brand this week, characterising the often loquacious British funnyman as the “Mad Hatter of conspiracy theories”.
“The mockney stand-up turned populist pundit has followed U.S. podcaster Joe Rogan down the rabbit hole of online misinformation,” the paper proclaimed.
Shooting back at the accusations, Brand said that “for a number of varying reasons — whether it’s anti-fascist, or anti-this, or anti-that — conversation is being shut down, the ability to communicate is being shut down, the ability to criticize power.”
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’ve been wrong many times but I’m beginning to think I’m right about this: the mainstream media is not your friend, the culture is not your friend, the government is not your friend, big business is not your friend. They are operating collegiately in unison to create a set of systems that are beneficial to them and disadvantage you.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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