MAHA supports Russell Brand after his rape conviction

Brand’s conviction on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault was handed down Thursday by a unanimous jury of eight men and four women. During a four-week trial, witnesses presented evidence that Brand sexually assaulted four different women between 2004 and 2009.

The message of the MAHA report argues that media coverage of multiple sexual assault complaints against Brand over the years made the trial unfair. Then it veers into conspiracy, suggesting the accusations were politically motivated and linked to Brand’s anti-vaccine, anti-establishment turn.

In recent years, even after women reported allegations of sexual assault and emotional abuse by Brand to British journalists, the anti-vaccine movement closely allied itself with him. Brand hosted Kennedy on his podcast in 2023 and supported the future health secretary’s failed bid for president, including an appearance as a paid entertainer at a fundraiser in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kennedy and the various MAHA organizations that support him have only elevated Brand since. In addition to appearing dozens of times on weekly MAHA Action shows (once in a bubble bath), Brand interviewed Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines, at a 2025 anti-vaccine fundraiser and moderated a panel at the annual MAHA summit in September, which he opened with a joke about consensual touching. That phrase brought a hearty laugh from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Lyons did not respond to a request for comment on Brand’s conviction or MAHA’s continued support. As other publishers pulled Brand’s books from shelves this week, Lyons doubled down by offering to publish the canceled titles under his own publishing house, Skyhorse.

In May, Lyons was promoting Brand’s new book, “How to Become a Christian in Seven Days,” and offered this reporter an interview with Brand. “People are looking for purpose, redemption,” Lyon texted. “Russell Brand lived a life of sin and is an example of transformation to a life of faith. »

When told that MS NOW would question Brand about the rape and sexual assault allegations, Lyons retorted, “Isn’t he innocent until proven guilty?”