I was completely wrong about him.
By George Monbiot, published on Bluesky, 7th November 2026
People have asked me how I feel about nominating Russell Brand a “hero” in 2014.
I feel very bad about it. It must have piled on the pain for his victims. I apologise to them.
Though there was nothing published about his crimes at the time, I should have read the signs better. I failed to do so.
I now see the political impact he had that year as yet another of his reinventions. He later reinvented himself again as a far right conspiracist. I wrote about that in 2023, a few months before The Sunday Times and Channel 4 revelations about his sexual abuse.
When the revelations emerged, I was horrified. But I should have been more alert before, and have recognised the predatory nature of his treatment of other people. He was a villain not a hero, and had been for years.