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New Statesman
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
Russell Brand's transatlantic trial
Photo byThere are two Russell Brands. One, the British comedian with a cockney lilt and spidery limbs; he cracks wise on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2011, a gothic jester; he organises anti-austerity protests and routs Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight; he's terribly concerned about the bankers, the bonuses, the bankers..; he guest edited an issue of this magazine in 2013. The other is his more recent incarnation. A stint in Hollywood – Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek – preceded the transformation of this left-populist raconteur into a new-age guru. His concerns about the bankers never went away, but were turbo-charged with new anxieties: mainstream media, the Great Reset, vaccine injuries, the lying political establishment. A predictable Pokemon evolution for a man, already distrustful of authority, implanting himself into the ecosystem of a nascent New American Right. Both Brands sat in the dock in Southwark Crown Court at 1030am on 30 May – black shirt unbuttoned below the sternum, jeans as skinny as they were in 2008, the customary ombre-lensed aviators in hand – and pleaded not guilty to five charges of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault. Two of the incidents were alleged to have taken place at the MTV offices and Labour party conference, between 1999 and 2005. On the day he was charged he wrote 'I've never engaged in non-consensual activity… I'm now going to have an opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I'm incredibly grateful for that.' Brand, 49, will go to trial on 3 June 2026. Brand has long been shorthand for something much bigger than himself: once, a symbol for the excesses of noughties television; more recently, evidence of the right's quest for spirituality; now, the impassable gulf between the American right and establishment Britain. On 2 May, when Brand first appeared in Westminster Magistrates' Court, Tucker Carlson wrote: 'The entire case is transparently political and absurd… He has no shot at a fair trial, because Britain is no longer a free country.' In the same post Carlson contended that the once 'famous leftwing actor' was being penalised – via rape allegations – for criticising the government ('for using Covid to turn the UK into a totalitarian state'). That sounds familiar. During last year's summer riots America looked on and saw not just tensions spill out onto British streets, but an overweening state happily locking people up for tweeting in response. Senator Ted Cruz suggested 'nanny-state totalitarians' were destroying Britain. Elon Musk couldn't stop posting about Keir Starmer's 'Woke Stasi'. The basic line that the MAGA right have taken on Britain is that it is over: overwhelmed by demographic change, overlorded by left-wing petty tyrants, overcome by contradictions that are no longer possible to hide or wish away. To them, Brand is just another political prisoner. And so, in Britain Brand sits as a faded rockstar – a once sexy Marxist with one foot in the establishment – diminished as he runs to his shed in Oxford to prepare for an immense legal showdown. And in the imagination of the American right he sits behind the glass staring at the judge in Court 2 as a victim of an authoritarian state that imprisons people for much less than what he is accused of; a standard bearer for their worst suspicions about Labour's Britain; a martyr who handily already looks a lot like a bad picture of Jesus you might find in a Tennessee Sunday school. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Outside court there was a man I recognised from Brand's first court appearance – his green Krispy Kreme bucket hat and pink trainers made him hard to miss. There were a throng of confused spectating tourists too, stalled by the press pack. If there were fans present they made little attempt to reveal themselves. And so Brand walked through the crowd – flanked by a small entourage – and got in the car, in silence. Cognisant, you must imagine, that his friends are very far away. Related
Scottish Sun
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Shock moment Katherine Ryan jokes about Holly Willoughby's kidnap ordeal and Alison Hammond's weight live on stage
She referenced the man who plotted to kidnap and murder the former Dancing On Ice presenter ON THE NOSE Shock moment Katherine Ryan jokes about Holly Willoughby's kidnap ordeal and Alison Hammond's weight live on stage THIS is the shock moment Katherine Ryan joked about Holly Willoughby's kidnap ordeal. She also made comments about Alison Hammond's weight live on stage. Advertisement 6 Katherine Ryan made a savage joke about Holly Willoughby's kidnap ordeal Credit: Getty 6 The Netflix star took to the stage after Channel 5 aired a documentary on the plot Credit: Getty 6 Holly Willoughby quit This Morning after details of the Plumb's vile plan emerged Credit: Rex Katherine, 41, is one of the UK's most in-demand comedians who is known for her sharp sense of humour. She's appeared on huge shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI and Have I Got News For You. The star has had multiple stand-up specials released on Netflix and took to the stage for the BBC's Live At the Apollo. However, The Duchess personality made controversial jokes at a recent show about Holly Willoughby's kidnapping ordeal. Advertisement Gavin Plumb was previously convicted of planning to kidnap and murder the former This Morning presenter. After the vile plan emerged, the longtime ITV presenter stepped away from her role on the daily flagship magazine programme. Channel 5 recently aired a documentary that detailed every part of his sick plan. This situation was turned into comedy fodder for Katherine's latest act. Advertisement At a recent show, she asked the audience: "Do you remember that heavy man, Gavin Plumb? "Who was arrested after he was caught trying to kidnap and murder Holly Willoughby, the nation's sweetheart? Do you remember him? Star of controversial Holly Willoughby plot to kill documentary tells all Katherine continued: "He was very dangerous when they apprehended him, he had weapons in his house. He had kidnapped women before. "He was stalking Holly Willoughby, he was obsessed with her. He knew the map of her house and the route she took to work. Advertisement "They caught him in international chat rooms trying to find an accomplice to fly to the UK and help him kidnap and murder Holly Willoughby. "Yet, at his trial a white woman over 40 was his lawyer. Visit our Holly Willoughby page for the latest updates "She stood before the nation, the judge and the jury, and her entire defense was, and I quote, 'my client, never would have killed Holly Willoughby. Look at him. He's too fat to jump over her fence'. She added: "Maam, how dare you. I got a lot of big girlfriends who could kill Holly Willoughby tonight. Advertisement "Took Alison Hammond like a week." The audience in attendance did laugh at her joke as she added: "It could be done." 6 Katherine is known for her shar sense of humour Credit: Getty 6 She also made a quip about Alison Hammond's weight Credit: PA Advertisement
The Irish Sun
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Shock moment Katherine Ryan jokes about Holly Willoughby's kidnap ordeal and Alison Hammond's weight live on stage
THIS is the shock moment Katherine Ryan joked about Holly Willoughby's kidnap ordeal. She also made comments about Advertisement 6 Katherine Ryan made a savage joke about Holly Willoughby's kidnap ordeal Credit: Getty 6 The Netflix star took to the stage after Channel 5 aired a documentary on the plot Credit: Getty 6 Holly Willoughby quit This Morning after details of the Plumb's vile plan emerged Credit: Rex She's appeared on huge shows such as , Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The star has had multiple stand-up specials released on Netflix and took to the stage for the BBC's However, Advertisement READ MORE ON KATHERINE RYAN Channel 5 recently aired a documentary that detailed every part of his sick plan. This situation was turned into comedy fodder for Katherine's latest act. Advertisement Most read in News TV At a recent show, she asked the audience: "Do you remember that heavy man, Gavin Plumb? "Who was arrested after he was caught trying to kidnap and murder Holly Willoughby, the nation's sweetheart? Do you remember him? Star of controversial Holly Willoughby plot to kill documentary tells all Katherine continued: "He was very dangerous when they apprehended him, he had weapons in his house. He had kidnapped women before. "He was stalking Holly Willoughby, he was obsessed with her. He knew the map of her house and the route she took to work. Advertisement "They caught him in international chat rooms trying to find an accomplice to fly to the UK and help him kidnap and murder Holly Willoughby. "Yet, at his trial a white woman over 40 was his lawyer. Visit our Holly Willoughby page for the latest updates "She stood before the nation, the judge and the jury, and her entire defense was, and I quote, 'my client, never would have killed Holly Willoughby. Look at him. He's too fat to jump over her fence'. She added: "Maam, how dare you. I got a lot of big girlfriends who could kill Holly Willoughby tonight. Advertisement "Took Alison Hammond like a week." The audience in attendance did laugh at her joke as she added: "It could be done." 6 Katherine is known for her shar sense of humour Credit: Getty 6 She also made a quip about Alison Hammond's weight Credit: PA Advertisement 6 Gavin Plumb has been convicted of conspiracy to kidnap and murder Holly Credit: Rex
Metro
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Katherine Ryan: 'I spiralled when the audience refused to laugh at my jokes'
Katherine Ryan might be one of the best-known comedians in the country, but she recently faced the brutal response from an audience who refused to laugh at her jokes. Best known for appearing on shows including 8 Out of 10 Cats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, A League of Their Own, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You?, QI and Have I Got News for You, the 40-year-old is now one of the stars of the new game show Silence is Golden. The premise of the six-episode series is pretty simple. Hosted by Dermot O'Leary, each episode begins with broadcaster U&Dave giving the studio audience £250,000 to share between them. All they need to do to keep it is to keep completely silent and not make a sound. That means no talking, no laughing and no gasping. Standing between them and the prize money are comedians and team captains Katherine, Seann Walsh and Fatiha El-Ghorri, who help lead a group of acts to wage war on the audience. If they get the prize pot to £0, they get to give it to charity. Their tactics are hilarious and sometimes completely underhanded, with one scene in the premiere episode leaving an audience member in shock as Katherine brings out her dog and sarcastically threatens to harm him if the woman doesn't react. Despite her best efforts, Katherine's attempts to break the audience members was an uphill battle – and even impossible at times. She said it was brutal realising their pre-prepared material 'wasn't working'. 'Anything you prepare for on this show doesn't work, and we went into it thinking we are competent stand-up comedians,' she said. 'But when they weren't reacting I was absolutely spiralling and that's why we were just trying whatever we could.' 'It's really unnatural to have an audience who are stone faced…we were incredibly destabilised. We were doing and saying things that we wouldn't normally say. We're usually very prepared doing standup, but we could not prepare for this and had to be adaptable.' However, she added: 'I know that our job was to take the money but then I did see them really celebrating, which was nice. I felt like I worked for an insurance company, and I knew that I was on the side of evil.' Meanwhile Seann explained: 'Even though you're aware that they are being paid £250,000 to not laugh at you, you think that might take off some of the sting when you're there, and it doesn't. They're just staring at you and the money doesn't matter. It feels as awful as it would if they weren't being paid at all. Yeah, it's absolutely horrific. But it's great to watch the other comics struggle.' Katherine and Seann also had to grapple with contradictory feelings of wanting to see the audience win some cash but also ensure they carried out their job to make them react and lose money. 'These guys are under a lot of pressure because, you know, U have said to us at the start, we don't have £250,000 pounds to give away. Like the channel's going down if they failed,' Dermot joked. But with such a massive amount of money on the line, the audience members were incredibly determined and were not impressed if someone broke. 'One thing that we didn't expect going into the show was that they were going to start turning on each other, which is such a huge part of the show and that grew naturally,' he laughed. 'We thought that the interval was actually a chance for them to kind of relax and unwind and what we didn't know is they were going to start turning on each other. And shouting! It's a great piece of television.' Throughout the process Dermot also gets the chance to try and bribe the audience members with money or prizes. If they speak, they can secure an individual prize, but doing so results in the group losing money. 'You can see them just kind of going, 'I'm just gonna go for myself'. So, I'd come on and go, 'ok who wants to do xyz for 200 quid and one would be like ME!'. Then the rest would go 'oh no that's just cost us 10 grand' and this one guy is like, 'I don't care, I've got 200 quid'.' More Trending Katherine went on to share that the 'desperation' on show in Silence is Golden also resulted in a 'authentic' series unlike any other game show seen before. 'You get to see people's natural reactions when it comes to greed and then when it comes to desperation, like everyone is at their most authentic because we don't know what to do and we just have to win,' she said. 'So, it's a real fight or flight series and then we were forced to throw the most unimaginable, surprising acts at the audience. It's not like anything else you'll see and is such a fun concept.' View More » Silence is Golden starts on Monday May 5 on U and U&Dave. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Comedian Milton Jones cancels tour dates after devastating prostate cancer diagnosis MORE: Katherine Ryan reveals the savage reason Stephen Hawking rejected her MORE: Bitter war over Benny Hill's £7,500,000 fortune revealed
Metro
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Inside Joe Lycett's private life with 'secret' girlfriend and surprise baby
Joe Lycett left fans in shock last year when announcing the news that he'd become a father. The comedian, 36, is best known for appearing on shows including Taskmaster, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and LOL: Last One Laughing, as well as presenting The Great British Sewing Bee, Travel Man and his talk show Late Night Lycett. Over the years Joe has largely kept his private life out of the spotlight, so left many surprised when revealing he'd welcomed a child in October. At the time he shared a photo of himself cradling his son, sharing he was 'loving being a dad'. This week he explained that becoming a parent was 'so beautiful'. Here's everything we know about Joe's growing family, including his relationship with his 'secret' girlfriend. Joe has regularly referred to his bisexuality and pansexuality in his stand-up routines. In a 2015 interview with Attitude magazine, he described how being bisexual 'presents its own challenges' when people had 'no box to put you in', going on to share it 'just means you fancy people of all genders'. In 2023 he told The Guardian that 'homophobia was rife' while he was in school and there were 'very, very few openly queer kids in my year group'. A few days before announcing he'd become a dad, Joe spoke opened up about his relationship and spoke about his sexuality at length. Speaking on Bimini Bon-Boulash's podcast The Pieces, Joe discussed his girlfriend 'Denise' revealing that he uses a pseudonym to keep her name out of the public eye. 'So, I've got Winston the cat, and my partner Denise. And, um, she's not called Denise, but I don't talk about her, because she has a job that she can't be in the public eye,' he said. 'I call her Denise because she hates the name Denise, so, uh, I live with Denise. He went on to discuss his sexual identity, which he admitted was a difficult conversation at times. 'Well, it's interesting now being in a long-term relationship with a woman because loads of people are like, sorry what? There was a brief period when I was at school when I thought because I was attracted to men, I was gay, and then I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on,' he began. 'Then I use the term bisexual when anyone asks, and I just want to give a quick answer because people understand that. 'But I think the most accurate way of describing myself is pansexual, in that I'm not attracted to people, just because of their gender. Joe added that he sometimes struggled to explain his sexuality to 'idiots' as it was more nuanced than fancying every person on earth. 'I also don't really know how it works because, I don't know, how does it work? As in, I don't know how it works in terms of like, explaining it to idiots. Because it is hard to sort of go, well, no, I am attracted to men sometimes, but not all men. And it's not often to do with the fact that they are men,' he said. 'Yeah, it doesn't matter what the gender or whatever. And I don't know why that is, but that is how it is. It's a strange one because to me that suggests that sexuality is not just man, woman.' 'So, the intellectual side of me goes it's pansexual, which means all. So, that's how I feel about myself.' He went on to say that he 'doesn't really care what anyone else thinks about it these days, because I just think it's nothing to do with you'. However, Joe said many people still assumed he was gay because of his 'camp' television persona. 'I do think it's interesting. A few years into a relationship with a woman and going like, I am a straight man now, that dresses like this. I am still struggling with it in different ways of course. And particularly because lots of people just presume I'm gay because I'm camp on telly,' he shared. In November he was snapped out walking with his partner on a weekend stroll with their baby. However, Joe's not revealed any personal details about the mother of his child, nor has the baby's name been shared publicly. When announcing the arrival of his firstborn, Joe wrote that he is 'LOVING being a dad'. Posting Instagram, he praised the staff working at hospital where his partner gave birth. 'An appreciation post from me for the extraordinary @bham_womens hospital. My first encounter with them was years ago when they looked after a pal of mine through surgery, and then most recently when they masterfully welcomed a little boy into the world, who happens to be my son,' he wrote to his 1.4million followers. 'The care and compassion his mum and he received was exceptional; from the antenatal classes, incredible midwives, consultants, doctors, nurses and the ongoing care in the community. We also loved their baked potatoes. 'Birmingham is so lucky to have them, and I will be forever grateful for everything they've done.' He also appeared on Lorraine this week to promote his new series, Joe Lycett's United States of Birmingham, and got candid about parenthood. More Trending 'I'm amazed I've strung a sentence together 'cause I'm so underslept,' he told host Lorraine Kelly. 'It's so beautiful, the whole thing. It's so hard to not be clichéd when you talk about parenthood because everything everyone says about it is exactly right. 'It's sort of everything, and maddening, and beautiful and yeah. I'm having a lovely time with it; I'm really in love with it. It's great.' Joe Lycett's United States of Birmingham stars tonight at 9pm on Sky Max and NOW TV. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Watch 7 best moments from Amazon Prime show declared 'funniest ever seen' MORE: Amazon Prime series 'breaks records' after being hailed funniest TV show ever
