The Channel 4 Dispatches programme that on 16 September, in collaboration with the Times and the Sunday Times, accused the comedian Russell Brand of rape, sexual abuse and other predatory behaviour over a number of years, was titled In Plain Sight. The full phrase is, of course, “hidden in plain sight” – but very little hiding went on. While Brand has only now been accused of criminal behaviour – which he denies – his misogyny was hardly a secret.
It was for many years – the years that made him famous and wealthy – his most well-known trait. On panel shows and in stand-up shows, Brand routinely made jokes that demeaned women, reduced them to a punchline, and treated them as little more than sexual objects. Derision of women was a feature, not a flaw, of his career. Now multiple women have alleged that Brand treated them as sexual objects within personal relationships, too.
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