Tagged with Russell Brand

Russell Brand urges you to vote Labour

Part two of the Brand – Miliband interview is now out (you can see part one here). Complete with a previously un-released part of the previous interview (though it must be said that Ed struggles to get a word in through much of it), it includes an appeal by Brand for everyone to vote Labour – except in Brighton Pavilion (where he urges a vote for Caroline Lucas) and Scotland (where he would not as an English person presume to tell people how to vote):

my call to action for how to best use your vote to save the country, and for future REVOLUTION.

So the man who Cameron describes as “a joke”, who has repeatedly said that he doesn’t think voting is worthwhile and  told Jeremy Paxman that he’s never voted “and never will”  is converted by Ed Miliband. Good stuff!

Why Brand-ing Miliband was the right move

xaz8xuA Frost/Nixon for our age? No, but the media reaction to Russell Brand’s encounter with Ed Miliband is out of all proportion to what was said. The actual content of the interview is pretty innocuous, at least from the standpoint of grizzled lefties and hardened politicos. Yet where Brand’s core audience are concerned, the teens to the mid-30 somethings who tend not to pay politics anywhere near as much mind as the likes of you and I, it’s a different story. That is why Ed was absolutely right to seek him out and take whatever ra-ra-revolutionary verbiage cum cheeky banter on offer, and once again the expectations of the commentariat were confounded. The worst they could fault him for was dropping his tees and gees which, all told, is a bit pathetic. Continue reading →

Russell Brand v the Sun: long may the war continue

When I was poor and I complained about inequality, people said I was bitter. Now I’m rich and I complain about inequality, they say I’m a hypocrite. I’m beginning to think they just don’t want inequality on the agenda because it is a real problem that needs to be addressed.”

Normally something to pin on your tumblr, this week it’s become something of a prophecy. Russell Brand was ambushed on Channel 4 news (two million views and rising) for having the temerity to stand with New Era Estate residents against the sale of their homes to American-based property sepculators. Scenting an opportunity to shift a few papers, The Sun joined C4 with front page attacks on Brand on Wednesday and Thursday. And so it came to pass that the Dirty Digger’s tabloid terriers went to war with Russell Brand.

I pity the fools. Continue reading →

Russell Brand, Narcissist and Comrade?

Russell BrandI’ve always had a soft spot for Russell Brand. Like many recovering Big Brother fans, I first encountered him on E4’s E-Forum, a side programme to Big Brother’s Little Brother, which in turn was an adjunct to the main event. But there was something about Brand that made him stand out even in those days. Was it his larking about? His knowing jokes about himself and celebrity? The casual peppering of monologue with Nietzschean observations and obscure social theory references? Yes, probably.

Since then his cheeky-chappery has taken off. Hollywood films and megastar celebrity ex-wives and ex-partners later, this last year Brand has been on a journey of self-reinvention. While always a lefty of some sort, since his successful one issue take-over of the New Statesman, Brand has been using the platform he has to rally support for protest actions and campaigns. He has, of course, taken part in a few himself. And now his has a new book to sell, Revolution. Should we then take him seriously? Continue reading →