Russell Brand, Andrew Tate 'Tactic' Compared Amid Allegations

A journalist has highlighted a "powerful tool" that conspiracy theorists such as Russell Brand and Andrew Tate allegedly use to manipulate their fanbase.

Brand has been accused of emotional abuse, sexual assault and rape by four women, with the claims revealed through a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches on September 16.

The 48-year-old has denied the allegations, suggesting there is a "coordinated media attack" against him in a video uploaded to social media.

"I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, 'watch out Russell, they're coming for you, you're getting to close to the truth," Brand said in the 2:45-second clip. "It feels to me that there has been a serious and concerta agenda to control these kinds of spaces."

In recent years, the comedian has garnered a devoted fanbase amongst right-wingers and conspiracy theorists, who have come to his defense since news of the accusations broke this weekend.

However, journalist Rachel Gilmore believes Brand is using "conspiracy culture" as a "powerful tool to dodge accountability."

In a video posted to social media, Gilmore discussed how "conspiracy culture helps allegedly bad dudes get away with allegedly very bad things."

"One of the things that makes coming forward so painful is how many people will deny you your own truth," Gilmore said. "But in the age of conspiracy culture, some men of popularized a particularly scary way of doing this."

Gilmore said that for years Brand has been "conditioning and grooming his audience to take his word alone as the truth."

"He regularly shares conspiracy theories and misinformation with his audience, telling them to stay awake and stay free. He also tells them not to believe pretty much anyone else," she said.

In the 2010s, Brand was known for his left-wing comedy that skewered the British government. After landing a string of high-profile presenting jobs in his native England, Brand moved to the U.S. to pursue an acting career, landing a role in the romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) alongside Kristen Bell and Jason Segel. He met his ex-wife Katy Perry in 2009 on the set of the film's sequel, Get Him to the Greek (2010), but the marriage only lasted two years, with the 38-year-old singer calling Brand "controlling" in a 2013 interview with Vogue.

Although his Hollywood career seemed to peak early on, he remained a popular comedian and activist, rallying against wage inequality and climate change, amongst other issues. However, last year the star moved his show to right-wing video platform Rumble, after promoting anti-vaccination conspiracy theories, alien encounters and endorsing Donald Trump.

Brand currently has 6.6 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.4 million on Rumble, with an additional 11.2 million followers on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.

"When you have millions of followers and a big ol' chunk of them think only you tell them the truth, that's a powerful tool," Gilmore continued in the clip.

"So naturally, when the allegations emerged, Brand suggested there is a 'serious and concerted agenda' to control what he called 'my voice along with your voice.'"

Gilmore said that "he's neither the first nor the last to use this tactic," before comparing methods employed by kick-boxer-turned-influencer Andrew Tate. The 36-year-old responded to charges of rape, human trafficking and creating an organized crime ring by telling the followers that the "Matrix" was coming after him.

Quoting University of British Columbia professor Naomi Klein, Gilmore said: "This knee-jerk denialism is precisely why people with plenty of skeletons in the closet love conspiracy culture.

"They have a built in defense against accountability, it's all a conspiracy, always."

Gilmore's analysis received over 109,000 views on X and TikTok, but split opinions online.

"Anyone who believes this grifter has been grifted," said TikTok user Andrea Lisa.

"It's f****** insane how people are defending him," wrote Cinemagician.

"I've been following him very closely for many years I'm certain he cultivated this persona likely purposely, he knew this would eventually come out," said amani.

Fans of Brand's also commented, with X user Gianni accusing Gilmore of "using this story for clickbait and personal gain on social media."

"You're saying he used conspiracy theories to build a defense mechanism. Which is itself a conspiracy theory," said Mark Thomas.

"The media cheered him on during this very debauched period of his life. He straightened out and now they come for him because of bad ideas," commented Jimmy Groot, while P.Monty said: "I hope he sues you!"

Gilmore told Newsweek that she expected the negative reaction to her video from Brand's followers.

"He's been telling them to trust his takes, which are often misinformed and conspiratorial, and not to trust almost anyone else. It's straight out of the Andrew Tate playbook," she said.

"All in all, I think the angry boys replying to my video prove its point: Brand has built a large following that blindly trusts him and instinctively mistrusts others."

Since the allegations came to light, a number of controversial celebrities have also publicly supported Brand, including X owner and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and right-wing podcaster Alex Jones.

Newsweek has reached out to Russell Brand for comment via email.

Update 9/21/23, 4:42 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include comment from Rachel Gilmore.