\n<\/p>\n
A month after he was charged<\/a> with five criminal counts including rape, indecent assault, oral rape, and sexual assault, Russell Brand<\/strong> made his first appearance in UK court Friday. The British comedian\/actor<\/a> turned conspiracy-focused social media star was released on conditional bail at the end of the proceedings, and was instructed to return to court at the end of the month. The same day, right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson<\/strong> tweeted support for Brand, and begged president Donald Trump<\/strong> to intervene on the alleged rapist’s behalf.<\/p>\n Claims of misconduct and abuse against the 49-year-old star of films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall<\/em><\/a> and Rock of Ages<\/em><\/a> took center stage in September, 2023<\/a>, when UK news outlets The Times<\/em> and The Sunday Times<\/em>, as well as Channel 4 newsmagazine series Dispatches<\/em>, released a sweeping joint investigation<\/a> detailing an alleged pattern of sexual assault and coercion. Four women who spoke to the outlets accused Brand of sexual assault in incidents between 2006 and 2013, while a significant number of others made claims of harassment, predatory behavior, and abuse.<\/p>\n The day before the report was released, Brand took to social media<\/a> in an apparent effort to deny the impending allegations, saying then that \u201cmainstream media\u201d operations with a \u201cserious and concerted agenda\u201d would soon release a story about him that had \u201cmetastasized into something criminal.”<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past,” Brand said in a September 15, 2023 post to X (formerly Twitter). “What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n His denial gained support from fans including X owner and alleged deadbeat dad<\/a> Elon Musk<\/strong>, who responded<\/a>\u2014apparently in reference to the mainstream press\u2014”Of course. They don\u2019t like competition.”<\/p>\n