Elon Musk is voicing his support for Russell Brand following a bombshell investigation detailing sexual assault allegations against the embattled actor.
The report, published Saturday after a joint investigation by the Times, Sunday Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches, revealed accusations of sexual abuse from five different women. The allegations in the report included that Brand sexually assaulted a 16-year-old while he was in his 30s, that he raped a woman in his Los Angeles home in 2012, and that he sexually assaulted a third woman in 2013.
In a video response, Brand denied the “very, very serious criminal allegations” against him and claimed that his relationships “were absolutely always consensual.”
Brand also suggested that he was the victim of a coordinated media attack—“like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn’t approve of,” referring to the podcaster’s promotion of ivermectin to treat Covid (contradicting guidance from the Food and Drug Administration).
Brand has garnered a small number of vocal defenders who echo his theory that he’s being targeted because of his anti-establishment takes.
“Speak out against the Deep State, bad shit happens,” wrote one user on X. “Is Russell Brand innocent and being railroaded?“
But one prominent person is among those coming to Brand’s defense: billionaire Elon Musk.
On Sunday, Musk wrote: “I support Russell Brand. That man is not evil.”
Musk also replied to Brand’s video, saying, “Of course. They don’t like competition.”
Many of Brand’s supporters in the wake of the allegation are prominent in right-wing circles, such as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and controversial kickboxer-turned-podcaster Andrew Tate.
“Criticize the drug companies, question the war in Ukraine, and you can be pretty sure this is going to happen,” Carlson wrote in response to Brand’s video.
Musk replied to Carlson’s post, writing in agreement: “Sure seems that way!”
Tate also agreed, writing, “yep” in response to Carlson.
Tate is embroiled in a rape scandal of his own, having been charged in Romania in June with his brother on charges of rape, human trafficking, and forming an organized crime group to sexually exploit women. In August, Tate won on appeal to be released from house arrest while awaiting trial.
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*First Published: Sep 18, 2023, 9:13 am CDT
Katherine Huggins
Katherine Huggins is a New York-based journalist and freelance contributor to the Daily Dot’s tech and politics section. She helps cover the United Nations for the Japanese newspaper Mainichi and previously reported on the 2022 midterm elections for Marketwatch. Her work has appeared in USA Today, Forbes, OpenSecrets and more.