Trascrizione completa di BREAKING: Russell Brand Sentenced To 10.5 Years For Rape And Sexual Assault

really interesting. 00:06:35 Speaker 1: Yes. 00:06:35 Speaker 2: He talked about the fact that in some of these sexual assaults, he had an entourage, people almost, well, not almost, people laughing And adding to the shame and humiliation that these women say in detail that they suffered, because yes, there was an audience for some of these sexual assaults. And the rape itself, the judge described how he, after he raped this woman, told her to clean up her mess. And that was a part of what he considered in the sentencing. 00:07:09 Speaker 1: I thought that was interesting. And this was the lady as well, and I didn't know. He detailed it a little more. She sounded like she had a rough go in life because of this. She was 21 at the time. Robes, he detailed alcohol, drug abuse she's had, issues of all kinds throughout her life, mental health struggles. Robes, and they point to this. 00:07:34 Speaker 2: Yes, and the judge also said he took into consideration Russell Brand's fame, not just that he used his fame to exploit these women and their fandom of him initially, at least the rape victim had consensual vaginal sex with her. It was that he took that and abused his power, his fame over her, but also... The mere fact that he says these women, and they said they suffered every time they heard his voice, every time they heard his name, every time they saw his face, so that because he was famous, it added to their shame, it added to their pain, because they literally couldn't escape him, so to speak. And that was taken into consideration as well. 00:08:16 Speaker 1: Throughout this, he's been described as a guy who kind of lost his mind, got drunk on fame, and that fame was power to him. And it gave him the right to disregard, I think the judge said, to disregard any woman's right to say no to him. Because of fame, he did. I mean, he had a pretty, I mean, we call it sometimes a meteoric rise. But this is, he shot the superstar and all of a sudden we knew who he was over here and he was all over the place. And to hear it described, that was his weapon. That was his thing. That's what he, the judge, what was the... The entourage part. 00:08:54 Speaker 2: That was disturbing. 00:08:57 Speaker 1: This always is the case. Nobody can do this on their own, whether it's Epstein. I'm not trying to make a comparison, a direct comparison, but the Diddy stuff. There were people around who were very well aware that there was some criminal activity going on, or at least something where you snatch your boy and say, hey, what are you doing? And nobody ever did that. He said that about the men. He said that instead of laughing, they should have pulled you to the side and told you what you were doing is wrong. 00:09:23 Speaker 2: He even described having a driver take the rape victim back home and had tissues ready. And I thought that was so interesting. The judge pointed that out, that his own staff members knew that when they were going to take women back from being with him, that to have tissues ready, because this was not Some joyful, fun, sexual experience. They knew what was coming. They knew what was going on. And they turned a blind eye to it. That was all deeply disturbing to hear the judge talk about that. We're not used to that here in the US court system, to hear a judge go through all of these reasons. I mean, look, judge take licenses all the time to throw the book at folks, but this was just distinctive in just him describing all of the mitigating factors that he considered before deciding sentencing. 00:10:13 Speaker 1: Yes, he decided the sentence, but before we got to that, we did Hear victim impact statements. Stay here for that. And also, yes, he's been sentenced to 10 years and six months. But how much of that will he actually be required to serve? Stay here. 00:10:41 Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone, to a breaking edition of Amy and TJ. We just found out that actor, comedian, YouTuber Russell Brand was just sentenced in a British court to 10 and a half years behind bars before that sentencing was read. There were four victim impact statements, and one of those victim impact statements was read aloud in person by the victim herself. She was shielded behind a beige curtain in court, but she talked about the shock and turmoil she felt after the attack. She says she, quote, literally lost any love for myself for a long time, and she said she was left thinking, I was damaged goods. She also told the court that she felt physically sick seeing Russell Brand in the press as his fame continued to rise. And we heard the judge reference that, that that was a part of what he considered in terms of sentencing. The damage that was done wasn't just once. It was repeated because he was so famous that these women were forced to hear his name, hear his voice, and see his image for years. And I thought it was pretty powerful. She ended with this. I just want to say, a leopard may change its spots. but it's still a leopard. And that was the woman who was in court today. She thought it was so important. She wanted, and they said her voice was shaking throughout, but she wanted to read her own words. I thought that was very powerful. 00:12:09 Speaker 1: And it was significant enough for her to show up and do this. She didn't have to. But man, what they describe as this young lady, I mean, your heart goes out to her. It's ruined her life. Yes. 00:12:21 Speaker 2: And she wasn't alone because the other women who had their victim statements, victim impact statements read aloud. One of them said this was the woman who was raped. She said that she has never ending fear. She experiences never ending fear since that incident occurred. She says she feared for weeks that she had contracted HIV. We heard the judge talk about that as well because this was the anal rape and he took his condom off after she had asked him to put a vaginal sex, and then he took it off. And so she lived in fear for quite some time that she

had contracted HIV. And she said, um, the physical and emotional pain is something quote that I carry with me every day. And it often feels never ending. And that's horrific. And yes, this is the young woman who you mentioned earlier before the break had, it has had a lifetime of alcoholism, drug addiction, and just difficulty in relationships, period. In fact, the other victim talked about the lasting impact of the sexual assault, said it affected her relationships with colleagues, her ability to work. Russell Brand has managed to move on and even forget that he sexually assaulted me violently in a very public place and in front of people. And that was, I don't know that we, I did not realize before this trial that some of these assaults happened. 00:13:41 Speaker 1: In front of people. 00:13:43 Speaker 2: That is just horrific. 00:13:45 Speaker 1: To encouragement. You could even argue, Robes. We hear stories like this, Robes, about these people just can't do this on your own. You have to have people around that are enabling you. And it sounds like he had that. But, Robes, to think how far back some of this was, how many years ago, and they're being impacted now. Just what life? What was the one we had? I think it might have been the brothers. I always forget their names. 00:14:16 Speaker 2: The Alexander brothers or the Tate brothers? 00:14:19 Speaker 1: The real estate guys. 00:14:20 Speaker 2: The Alexander brothers. Okay. 00:14:23 Speaker 1: Where a woman said she mourns the life of the person she could have been. Like it's a funeral for the person that died because of what you did to me. 00:14:33 Speaker 2: Right. 00:14:34 Speaker 1: Like a whole life this woman is gone now. who knows what could have happened. 00:14:38 Speaker 2: Right, because you no longer trust anyone. You don't trust, and a lot of these women were described as fans, massive fans of Russell Brand, who were excited to be in his presence. One of these women said that they literally had even, they had just met him, and within moments of meeting him was being sexually assaulted in front of people. I mean, just the audacity, and yes, the staggering arrogance, that is how the judge put it, of Russell Brand. And look, this is a moment where This is something I think a lot of women, a day a lot of these women never thought would come. When you have someone this powerful, this popular, has this much reach. And yes, maybe he has changed his ways. According to his wife, he has changed his ways. According to Russell Brandt, he has changed his ways. Now, he has never admitted to raping any of these women, and that should be noted. He has maintained his innocence. He has said he basically had bad behavior that was maybe morally wrong. but not legally, or he claims it was nothing illegal, that he had consent from each and every one of these women before he did what he did. Some of these moments, though, he claims he doesn't remember, he doesn't recall, but he certainly has not admitted to any of it. 00:15:52 Speaker 1: Well, he's, don't know what the appeals process, what his options are there now. Ten years, six months, he has to, you were doing the math, but he has to do according to the judge's How does he do two-thirds of it? So that calculates to what? 00:16:06 Speaker 2: Roughly seven years. Seven years because he said, yes, you'll get credit for the couple of days you've spent behind bars. I mean, he was allowed to be free, so to speak, while he was awaiting trial and certainly during his trial. It wasn't until last Thursday when he was convicted that he was taken into custody. So he's had less than a week behind bars. So he doesn't really have a lot of credit for time served. So he's looking at about seven years behind bars. That is significant. 00:16:31 Speaker 1: He's 50 years old. 00:16:33 Speaker 2: I don't know the ages of his children, but I believe they are on the younger side. And yes, his wife, by his side, seems like she's going to stand by him, says he is a changed man, was the only person to testify in his defense, but it wasn't enough to reduce the sentence by much. 00:16:51 Speaker 1: All right, Russell Brand, 10 years, 6 months, his sentence now on convictions of rape and sexual assault, but the story just breaking. Literally, we heard the sentence and then we hit the record button. So just wanted to pass that along. Folks, we appreciate you as always. I'm TJ. On behalf of my dear Amy Robach, we'll talk soon.