Russell Brand And The Conspiracy Grift

Russell Brand was once considered a "hero of the left," criticizing Fox News and corporate media for their sensational and fear-driven coverage. Now, he's gone full conspiracy theorist, buddying up with the same right-wingers he used to criticize. His evolution is a great example of "grift drift" -- how so-called "free thinkers" get pulled towards extremism in order to get views and make money.

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[TheViktorofgilead]

He told us capitalism was horrible, now he’s proving it.

[EvilUmpire]

"Brand isn't a free thinker. He's a performer who is adapting his act to whatever he thinks will make him the most money." Excellent point.

[calumjunior]

It’s amazing how a few rape allegations can realign your chakras…

[KY-Guy]

"Brand isn't a free-thinker, he's a performer who is adapting his act to whatever he thinks will make him the most money".
You summed it up better than anyone I have seen so far. Bravo!

[karlvanbeckum]

Grifting is Russell Brand's new drug of choice.

[MatthewFura]

"The more people can think for themselves, the less they need carnival barkers like Brand to tell them what's what." Root of the problem right here.

[parhhesia]

The guru stuff set off alarm bells for me years ago. It's the terminal stage of narcissism.

[kaushiksings]

Don't know why this analysis leaves out the accusations of sexual assault against Brand. They only became public last year, but after the Me Too movement, Brand surely knew that his left-leaning audience would abandon him if those accusations became public, whereas the right-wing media ecosystem has been much more willing to ignore such behavior.

[andrescarnederes]

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who's noticed that he's just a grifter who is reshaping his image to not get attacked for his past.

[benf]

He's an addict and the one drug he hasn't given up is attention from others.

[rabidgoon]

There’s definitely a grift going on, but I also think there’s a psychological explanation. He desperately wanted to be viewed as a revolutionary leader on the left, but the two problems he ran up against were that he wasn’t taken terribly seriously by the left and things work differently on the left than they do on the right. It’s harder to be a megalomaniac with a personality cult on the left. And because he received this rejection, I believe it hurt his feelings and set him up for a reactionary turn to get revenge.

[erocnw]

He's giving millions of people what they want, which is more conspiracy nonsense.

[JonWintersGold]

Russell Brand is basically Alex Jones cosplaying as a hobo.

[Loner-Wolf]

Brand reminds me of the Groucho Marx joke where Groucho says "here are my principles and if you don't like these i have others".

[topcat]

Brand has sold out to the establishment by pretending he is against the establishment.

[Kelpwoud]

You could use brand's own words to expose himself and his new audience would tell you he's a victim of cancel culture.

[rileyxsko]

I've never understood his appeal, I've always found him deeply annoying.

[bookmanjb]

Excellent. I was so disappointed to see Brand slide knowingly down the wingnut rabbit hole. I'm glad someone is shining a light on his scam.

[jeffmccarthy]

He's always been a word salad clown.

[BenRobinson]

If herpes took humanoid form and developed a messiah complex...