Diane Holyoak

I don’t recall any full-page Mail splashes about Thatcher “fawning over Jimmy Savile.” She made four attempts to have the disgraced sexual abuser knighted before succeeding in 1990, despite pleas and warnings from concerned aides. Savile, a practising Roman Catholic who identified with the Christian faith. was also awarded a Papal knighthood by Pope John Paul II in 1990. The only front-page Mail splash about Savile I can readily find is the one that used the scandal to criticise the @BBC. With Brand, within months of the allegations becoming public he had “found Jesus,” and within a year he was being platformed by prominent #MAGA figures and American Christians. TIMELINE 15 September 2023 (evening): Brand posts the video “This is happening,” preemptively denying “very serious criminal allegations” and calling them a coordinated media attack. Elon Musk replies the same evening: “Of course. They don’t like competition.” 16 September 2023: Channel 4’s Dispatches (Russell Brand: In Plain Sight) airs alongside the joint Times/Sunday Times investigation. Four women allege rape, sexual assault and abusive behaviour. Bev Turner of GB News replies to Brand’s denial video, tweeting that he is being attacked by establishment media, that he is welcome on her show anytime, and that “You’re a hero.” 17 September 2023: Metropolitan Police receive the first formal report of a sexual assault; more complaints follow. Elon Musk posts “I support Russell Brand. That man is not evil.” Andrew Tate posts “Welcome to the club.” Tucker Carlson suggests the claims are punishment for criticising drug companies and the Ukraine war. Laurence Fox posts a video questioning the allegations, including the line: “It’s fascinating to see some parts of the legacy media talking about Russell Brand like we are going to believe anything they say about anything.” Katie Hopkins posts a YouTube video titled “Russell Brand: keep going lovely. Every day is a day of DEFIANCE.” 18 September 2023: Bev Turner defends her previous post on air on GB News during a live clash with co-host Andrew Pierce (who called the tweet “shameful”). She maintains she has spoken to sources and remains “confident there is no smoking gun,” describing the Dispatches allegations as “flimsy.” Nigel Farage, on his GB News show, discusses the Dispatches allegations. He says he is not a fan of Brand, but adds that Brand has “upset some very powerful people… big government… big pharma… Bill Gates,” and that “if you go out there and upset people, big powerful people, you’ve got to be pretty clear that there’s nothing they can really hit you back with.” Late 2023–early 2024: Brand begins publicly exploring Christianity, wearing a cross, reading the Bible, and discussing faith on his shows. 30 January 2024: Appears on The Tucker Carlson Show in his first major interview since the allegations. Carlson claims “governments colluded to shut down and destroy” him. 28 April 2024: Baptised in the River Thames. He describes it as an opportunity “to die and be reborn” in Christ’s name and leave the past behind. He continues to identify publicly as a Christian thereafter. The conversion, combined with his anti-establishment commentary, accelerates his acceptance on the American right. 6–7 June 2024: Brand appears on Donald Trump Jr.’s Rumble show (Triggered). Brand posts a photo of himself and Jr. on 7 June 2024 with the caption “I had a wonderful time with @DonaldJTrumpJr while here in Florida.” July 2024: Attends the Republican National Convention and interviews figures including Eric Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy. He interviews Ramaswamy live on his Rumble show from the convention. 4 September 2024: Appears live with Tucker Carlson as the special guest on the opening night of Carlson’s tour in Phoenix. Brand kneels in prayer on stage. 29 September 2024: Speaks at the “Rescue the Republic” rally alongside RFK Jr. and Jordan Peterson. Late 2024: Attends a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago linked to America’s Future (Michael Flynn’s group). 20 January 2025: Attends the MAHA Inaugural Ball on the day of Trump’s second inauguration.2025: Continues regular appearances in MAGA/MAHA spaces. 16 February 2025: RFK Jr. posts a photo of himself with Brand and Mehmet Oz / Dr Oz on 16 October 2025: Brand speaks at a Turning Point USA campus event at the University of Oklahoma (with Savannah Chrisley and Gov. Kevin Stitt) as part of the post-Kirk tour. 18 December 2025: Brand speaks at Turning Point’s AmericaFest (the first since Charlie Kirk’s death). April/May 2026: Publishes How to Become a Christian in Seven Days with Tucker Carlson Books. Carlson calls him “one of the people I most admire.” 29 September 2026: Brand moderates a panel with Mehmet Oz at the MAHA Summit in Washington (less than two weeks before his UK trial). He also appeared with RFK Jr. and Oz at the event. 5 November 2026: Brand is found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of: One count of rape: anally raping a 21-year-old fan at his home in Hampstead in 2009 after meeting her at a stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo. Three counts of sexual assault: groping an MTV worker (grabbing her breasts) at a party in a Soho bar in 2004; kissing and groping a radio station worker (pinning her against a wall, grabbing her face, touching her breasts and bottom) at a London radio station (Choice FM / Capital) in 2004 or 2005; sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker in 2009 by demanding a massage and then pressing his face/head into her groin area during the recording of an advertisement. Brand is now under investigation for two further rape allegations, and the Metropolitan Police have submitted files to the Crown Prosecution Service. Have there been any sustained calls for Christian leaders or communities to speak out and condemn the behaviour of Christians more broadly because of the actions of Christian abusers Brand and Savile? No. Of course not. That demand appears largely reserved for Muslims, despite the fact that every religion and political ideology has sexual abusers in its ranks. Approximately 450 people (of whom 328 were minors at the time) came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile, according to the official joint Metropolitan Police and NSPCC report Giving Victims a Voice (published January 2013).