Russell Brand's conspiracy theory YouTube channel proves his skill of influencing others
Russell Brand has always prided himself on ruffling feathers. Indeed, the ruffle-haired, one-time-winklepicker-championing anti-establishment icon even uses a crow (farting), as the logo for his website and podcast. And yet, his preferred platforms have changed over the years: from London’s stand-up circuit to prime spots on British radio and terrestrial TV, to the Hollywood red carpet, and now to the favourite of every cash-hungry rebel – social media. Yes, the 48-year-old has become a darling of the self-styled “free-speakers” of the internet, with the likes of Andrew Tate, Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson name-checking him as a mainstream-fighting compadre. But really, it seems as though his great talent lies not in speaking truth to power, but in speaking so much and at such speed that you no longer remember what the truth was in the first place. Oh, and he also knows how to write a headline that will whet even a great sceptic’s appetite. With this in mind, indy100 has taken a look at some of the most attention-grabbing titles on his YouTube channel, to see what exactly he’s been peddling: 'Covid Tsar Admits Lockdowns Were NEVER About Science'; 'So, Trump Just Said THIS about Vaccines And it Changes EVERYTHING'; 'The Queen’s Funeral – the HIDDEN Truth THAT NOBODY’s TALKING ABOUT'; 'Bill Gates Has Been HIDING This And It's ALL About To Come Out'. Brand is, evidently, a master of clickbait and adoring followers or, as he likes to call them, his “awakening wonders” – who have helped contribute to him having more than 6 million followers on YouTube alone. His articulately spun monologues, which prance along with rhetorical acrobatics and comic asides at the expense of “big business, big media and big government”. And yet, while he’s railing against world powers’ alleged propensity to mislead and deceive the public, he’s showing off his own skills at influencing others. He boasts that he wouldn’t dare tell his viewers what to think, yet in the same breath – or in the same headline – declares that he’s discussing the “truth” – which, by traditional definitions, should refer to objective, irrefutable fact. In one episode, titled, ‘Joe Rogan UNMASKS CNN’s True Agenda’, which is about the US broadcaster’s relationship with Pfizer, he says: “You can decide for yourself whether you think there's a connection between the stance of particular media organisations and the kind of financial partnerships that they have.” However, after playing a reel showing programmes on the network which are “sponsored by Pfizer”, he stresses: “But once you've seen that bloody montage, it's like the scales fall from your eyes surely, don't they?” Oh, but then he quickly adds: “But that's just what I think. What do you think?” Most recently, Brand proved he’d secured the unfaltering loyalty of his fanbase by openly addressing the allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him. In a video titled ‘So, This Is Happening’ and delivered in his usual no-pause-for-breath style, the presenter announced: “This isn't the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story, I am the news. “I've received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like my community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel. “But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time when I was in the movies, and as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. “Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that. Then almost too transparent, and I'm being transparent about it now as well, and to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?” He then went on to describe previous “coordinated media attacks” targeted at the likes of Joe Rogan. Then, channeling Andrew Tate’s “Matrix” narrative, he continued: “I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, ‘Watch out, Russell, they're coming for you. You're getting too close to the truth.” Finally, after suggesting that a “serious and concerted agenda” had been launched to “control” voices and platforms such as his, he urged his followers to “stay close, stay awake” and, most importantly, “stay free”. His statement was met with an instant flood of support, with one writing: “We support you, [it's] obvious this was going to happen, in fact inevitable.” The only real inevitability here is that his legions of admirers would respond in this way. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-09-18 21:52
Iran releases five Americans in prisoner exchange
The four men and one woman fly out of Tehran after $6bn of frozen Iranian funds is released.
2023-09-18 21:29
Travis Kelce give cryptic response to Taylor Swift dating rumours
Travis Kelce was asked about the dating rumours swirling around him and Taylor Swift, but the Kansas City Chiefs star didn't give much away when asked by a reporter. The American football player first spoke about Swift after going to her Eras Tour concert and expressed his disappointment at not being able to give a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it to the pop star. "I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings,” Kelce said on his podcast, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce. "So I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her.” The Chiefs tight end added: “If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it." @profootballfocus Travis Kelce shot his shot 😅 #traviskelce #taylorswift #swifties #friendshipbracelets #newheightshow #fyp #foryoupage (via @New Heights) Since then, there have been reports that Kelce and Swift spent time together in New York City - "Taylor and Travis have been quietly hanging out,” the source said, as per The Messenger. “She saw him when she was in NYC a few weeks ago.” However, a source told Entertainment Tonight that the two are not dating. “Travis has been into Taylor for a while and definitely has a crush on her. He is a simple guy that is very funny, charismatic, chill, and loves playing football," the source said. Meanwhile, Kelce was asked if the dating rumours were true in an interview with NFL+ on September 15, to which he decided not to comment on. “I know what you writers wanna hear, and you wanna hear more about that. And I’m not gonna give you anything,” he said. @andrew.siciliano New romantics for Taylor Swift? #taylorswift #traviskelce #swifties #newromantics The 33-year-old was then asked about the bracelet he wanted to give to Swift with his phone number on it but remained reserved in his response. “I said what I said. And I meant what I said when I said it,” Kelce said. “You know what, it is what it is. I’m not gonna talk about my personal life.” Elsewhere, Kelce's brother Jason - who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles - was asked about his younger brother's rumoured romance with Swift during an appearance on Prime’s Thursday Night Football. “I’ve seen these rumors. I cannot comment,” he told co-host Tony Gonzalez. “I don’t really know what’s going on there,” Jason added. “I know Travis is having fun, we’ll see what happens with whoever he ends up with." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-09-18 20:17
UK focuses on transparency and access with new AI principles
By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) -Britain set out principles designed to prevent generative AI models like ChatGPT from being dominated
2023-09-18 19:25
Korn to release new music in 2024
Korn star Brian Welch has confirmed the band is planning to release new music next year marking the follow-up to their 2022 album Requiem
2023-09-18 17:21
Donald Trump once asked Katy Perry why she married 'loser' Russell Brand
Donald Trump’s Twitter timeline was a mixture of ridiculous and unhinged before being banned in 2021, most of it not worth revisiting. However, people are now returning to one tweet about Russell Brand from way back in 2014 following allegations against the comedian. Trump tweeted Katy Perry before he announced his run for president, asking what she saw in “loser” Brand. "Katy, what the hell were you thinking when you married loser Russell Brand," he wrote. “There is a guy who has got nothing going, a waste!" Brand and Perry were married for 14 months after tying the knot in 2010. Things ended when Brand sent Perry a text message just moments before she went on stage via text message. Discussing their relationship in 2013, Perry said: "He’s a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him. Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011." Brand, 48, has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and abuse by four women. In a video uploaded to the comedian's social media platforms on Friday night (September 15) before the allegations were made public, Brand said he "absolutely refute[s]" the claims made towards him. He told viewers that all relationships he had were "absolutely always consensual." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings
2023-09-18 15:49
3 NFL head coaches squarely on the hot seat after Week 2
Week 2 put several NFL head coaches on notice, including two whose teams fell back on old habits and even one whose team managed to win their game.
2023-09-18 12:19
New York Liberty define and protect home-court advantage in Game 1
The New York Liberty comment on a monumental Game 1 win in their first-round series against the Washington Mystics.
2023-09-17 04:46
Burnt rubber, Montucky's King and Frankie Muniz: A NASCAR first-timer's running diary
FanSided's Adam Weinrib went to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in Bristol with Montucky Cold Snacks and lived to tell the tale (and watched Frankie Muniz race).
2023-09-17 02:19
Maren Morris is putting country music on notice with fiery new EP 'The Bridge'
Country music has been going through a reckoning of late, and Maren Morris is here to say she's done with sides of the genre that she finds toxic.
2023-09-17 00:49
Hasan Minhaj criticised after revealing most of his stand-up stories are untrue
A New Yorker piece has gained a lot of attention after revealing that American comedian Hasan Minhaj made-up a lot of the stories at the centre of his comedy, and fans are outraged. Minjah, an Asian American and Muslim American, based a lot of his comedy around those experiences, and his Netflix series Patriot Act won an Emmy. Speaking to writer Clare Malone, Minjah told her "every story in my style is built around a seed of truth". In a Patriot Act segment Minhaj tells the disturbing story of a letter sent to him filled with a white powder that spilled onto his young daughter, who was subsequently rushed to hospital. It turned out not to be anthrax, but served as a reminder of the consequences of Minhaj's comedy. But Malone did some digging and found at there is no record of such an incident. Not from the NYPD, local hospitals, or front-desk and mailroom employees at Minaj's former residence. During her conversation with Minhaj, he admitted that "his daughter had never been exposed to a white power, and that she hadn't been hospitalised". He told Malone that he didn't think he was manipulating his audience when she asked, "It's grounded in truth," he said. Another well known story of Minhaj is from his 2017 Netflix special Homecoming King, where he talks of a white girl he had a crush on, kissed, and invited to prom, only to show up the night of the dance to the girl going to prom with another guy. Onstage, Minhaj said that the girl's parents didn't want their daughter to take pictures with a brown boy because they were concerned what relatives may think. "I didn't know that people could be bigoted even as they were smiling at you," Minhaj says during the show. But the woman in the story disputes it, saying that she had turned down Minhaj, then a close friend, days before prom. Minhaj admitted this was correct, but said he had a different understanding go her rejection and there was an "emotional truth" to the story. The woman also shared that she had faced online threats and doxing for years after Minhaj failed to successfully disguise her identity. According to some former Patriot Act employees, members of the research team felt he could be dismissive of the fact-checking process. Malone reported that, "in one instance, Minhaj grew frustrated that fact-checking was stymying the creative flow during a final rewrite, and a pic of female researchers were asked to leave the writers' room." In a written statement, Minhaj insisted that "fact-checking at Patriot Act was extremely rigorous". When fans and viewers of Minhaj's content read Malone's piece, they were shocked and appalled. Some called his ego "terrifying", whilst others said it is "not okay to make up instances of threat over journalism". Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-09-17 00:20
Body found in search for UK fighter Daniel Burke in Ukraine, say police
Daniel Burke, from Manchester, had been fighting for Ukraine in the war against Russia since 2022.
2023-09-16 20:18