WhenBrianSmiles

She was 21 and a huge fan of Russell Brand. Months after he raped her, she spotted him at a work event and ran out, and then he texted her. She wrote back that he'd treated her like an animal. She told the jury his reply was two words. "I'm sorry." A London judge just turned that night into a 10 and a half year prison sentence. How the jury and the judge got there is a lot more careful than the headline makes it sound. She'd met him after one of his shows in the spring of 2009. Friends testified she was hurting so badly she couldn't sit down for days afterward. A nurse at the sexual health clinic she went to gave a statement that she'd told her she never agreed to what he did. Six women testified, and none of them knew each other. The jury sat through seven charges over four weeks and still didn't give the prosecution everything it wanted. They found him not guilty of two rapes, including a 1999 hotel room allegation in Bournemouth, plus an attempted assault. In one case they convicted him of groping a woman at a bar and cleared him of the rape she said came next. All 12 of them had to agree on every single count. Even his own lawyer's closing argument was pretty revealing. He told the jury "it is not criminal to treat women unkindly before, during or after sex." Then there's the sentence itself. Prosecutors asked the judge to start the rape at 12 years. He started at 8, added two because Brand took off the condom without her agreement, then knocked one off for mitigation. That's 9 years for the rape. The three sexual assaults got 9, 18 and 8 months, served at the same time as each other but on top of the rape, and that's where the 10 and a half comes from. Under UK rules he has to serve two thirds before he can get out, so about 7 years, and he's a registered sex offender for life. The rape happened in the spring of 2009, and Brand didn't see the inside of a cell until last Thursday. The judge opened his sentencing remarks by explaining why. His fame protected him right up until reporters went public with the allegations in 2023. Do the math and fame bought him 14 of those 17 years.

My doctor sent me a note last night about my Diet Coke consumption (I didn’t know she followed me). Thought I’d better start with orange juice this morning instead.

I’m going to cut my hair.

The day I post my man face we’ll be walking out of the church after our wedding ceremony 🥰🤭

It’s honestly heartbreaking watching LGBTQ+ people who were bullied throughout high school finally become adults, find the community they thought would be their safe haven, and then get bullied by that same community. Imagine surviving rejection just to find rejection where you thought you’d finally belong💔

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It’s easier to talk about the work than to do the work.

what’s an INSANE face card

what’s an INSANE face card

what’s an INSANE face card