How public figures use right-wing politics to shield themselves

Read more: Drifting and Grifting: Moving to the Right When Things Go Wrong

In a black mirror-esque shift, it’s becoming a commonly used tactic to move to right-wing politics when a “cancellation” or exposition is approaching. We have seen this with the likes of Elon Musk and Andrew Tate.
Back in September, Channel 4’s Dispatches exposed that Russell Brand has horrific allegations against him, notably in regards to rape and sexual assault. Suddenly, Brand’s trajectory to the right made so much more sense to me. Once a man who was engaging young people in left-wing politics suddenly swallowed the “red pill” and began cultivating an anti-cancel culture following. It would be nonsensical to suggest that this move to the right is unrelated to the fact that Russell Brand knew he would be exposed.

Russell Brand’s allegations
Russell Brand has always been considered controversial. He was known for causing outrage with a unique ability to do so with such immense charisma, sesquipedalian, and intellectualism. He had a way to make even the most mundane topics sound convoluted, philosophical, and intelligent.

Back in 2014, Russell Brand started to become well-known in the public sphere for his left-wing politics, steering away from comedy and creating political commentary videos. He called for a massive economic disparity and a new political system that focused on ordinary people rather than oligarchs. He engaged the disenfranchised and young in politics in a way that politicians (apart from Jeremy Corbyn) had failed to do for decades.

Now, the 2023 Brand has been accused of sexual assault and rape by multiple women. The once anti-mainstream, anti-capitalist left-wing figurehead who capitalised from the wave of Corbynism had evolved into a right-wing conspiracy theorist at just the right time to be able to suggest that there was a shadowy political agenda behind calling him a rapist.

Brand taking the red pill
Brands’s videos began to move to conservative talking points and conspiracy theories. He stopped calling out the elite such as Rupert Murdoch and started to speak out against the COVID-19 vaccine and even accused celebrities of starting the Hawaii wildfires with a laser beam.
While these seem like nonsensical ramblings from a grifter, these views are incredibly detrimental. Fascism is fueled by conspiracism and Brand’s videos that once demanded a fairer world simply shut down meaningful conversation and upheld the populist media. This, ultimately, benefited him when the allegations against him surfaced.

Is cancel culture real?
When Brand was accused of being a rapist, he immediately suggested that it was simply because he had spoken out against the vaccines and the Ukraine War. Instantly, the right-wing new media establishment rallied behind him. The Daily Telegraph’s Allison Pearson implied that Russell Brand was just being silenced. Bev Turner of GB News welcomed Brand onto his show. Elon Musk tweeted “They don’t like competition” in response to Brand’s video, referring to the media institution. Tucker Carlson said; “Criticize the drug companies, question the war in Ukraine, and you can be pretty sure this is going to happen.” Alex Jones also said the allegations are simply because Brand spoke out against Big Pharma and globalists.

The dire response to Brand’s allegations is so eerily dystopian. Years of research and investigations are imperative for journalists to expose alleged predators, but that still isn’t enough for the right-wing populists. Whittling down extreme trauma and abuse to an online concept such as “cancel culture” is heartbreaking and insulting.
Furthermore, there is irony in the suggestion that the establishment is trying to take down Russell Brand when the establishment was the one that raised him and continues to prop him up.

Brand isn’t the first and he absolutely won’t be the last to use right-wing conspiracy theories and talking points to deflect from serious allegations.

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