- Megyn Kelly reacts to a London judge’s sentencing of Russell Brand to more than 10 years in prison following his conviction for rape and sexual assault.
- “He grabbed a breast. He kissed a lady. He sniffed a lady,” reacted the political commentator. “It’s a scandal. It’s an obvious double standard.”
- Brand was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault and acquitted of two other counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault last week.
Megyn Kelly, who has been defending disgraced English comedian Russell Brand for months in his rape and sexual assault trial, reacts to his long prison sentence.
Brand was sentenced Monday to 10 and a half years in prison after being found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and one count of rape last week. During sentencing, Southwark Crown Court judge Joel Bennathan blasted the “series of lies” told by Brand throughout the trial and condemned the “casual and arrogant disregard for every woman’s right to say no”.
But the tenor was entirely different in Monday’s episode The Megyn Kelly Show. “Hell. 10 and a half years in prison. He grabbed a breast. He kissed a lady. He sniffed a lady. And he had sex from behind with a woman who licked his back door before she was even introduced to him,” the conservative political commentator remarked. “This is insane.”
Zeynep Demir/Anadolu via Getty
Brand’s conviction marked the culmination of a month-long trial that revolved around testimony from six different accusers. The incidents they described occurred between 1999 and 2009. He was initially charged with three counts of rape and sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault, and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“On several occasions, I felt visibly sick at the sight of him parading around thinking he could get away with anything,” one victim said in her statement, according to The guardian. Another described Brand laughing after “mauling” her, during an alleged “frantic” sexual assault at radio station Choice FM, where she worked in 2005.
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Kelly dismissed the multitude of accounts as “grabbing breasts, kissing, sniffing and having this type of sex with a woman who had consented to vaginal sex with him seconds before and who had also clearly been joking with him.”
She described the trial’s outcome as “a scandal. This is a clear double standard. And if you needed any further proof that this is a political witch hunt against Russell Brand, this judge just gave it to us,” Kelly said, pointing to Bennathan’s remarks during sentencing.
Noam Galaï/Getty
In his 2016 memoir, Settle for moreThe former Fox News anchor accused the network’s founder, Roger Ailes, of making “blatantly inappropriate sexual comments” to her and ultimately crossing “a new line by repeatedly trying to grab me and kiss me on the lips.”
Kelly’s anchor at the time, Gretchen Carlson, accused Ailes of similar behavior that same year, leading to an internal investigation that resulted in Ailes’ resignation and settlements with several women. Ailes has denied all accusations.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.
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