Old posts made by Donald Trump questioning why Katy Perry had ever married Russell Brand are going viral again after a jury in London found Brand guilty of rape and sexual assault on Thursday, November 5.
At the end of a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, the jury convicted the 51-year-old of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was found not guilty of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Remanding him in custody and refusing him the chance to spend the weekend at home to say his goodbyes to his family, judge Justice Bennathan warned him to expect “a significant custodial term”.
Since the verdict, social media users have been sharing a Twitter rant that Trump posted about Brand back in 2014.
It started after Trump watched Brand appear on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2014. Trump, who was a reality TV star and businessman at the time, was clearly not impressed. He asked his followers: “What the hell do people see in Russell?”
He went on to call Brand a “loser.” Just minutes later, he turned his attention to Brand’s ex-wife Katy Perry, suggesting that she must have been drunk when she married the comedian. He added that Brand had once sent him a very nice letter of apology.
For his part, Brand didn’t stay quiet, firing back to ask whether Trump was drunk when he wrote his tweets, while also mocking his hair and his family inheritance.
In a later post, Trump then asked Perry directly what she had been thinking when she married Brand, describing the comedian as someone with nothing going for him. He also called Brand’s mind “fried” and said he was a “total joke.”
In light of this week’s verdict, many people online are now saying that Trump’s comments about the marriage have aged in a way no one could have expected.
“At least he got something right. Russell Brand found GUILTY of rape and sexual assault!” one person wrote yesterday under the old tweet.
“Wild tweet to look back at,” opined another.
A third commented: “This guy was ahead of the curve.”
Brand married Katy Perry in a lavish ceremony in India in October 2010, after the pair met on the set of the film Get Him to the Greek. Just 14 months later, he filed for divorce, and the divorce was finalized in 2012.
The relationship between Brand and Trump’s world changed a lot in the years that followed. After the allegations against him became public in 2023, Brand moved to the US and built a large following among American conservatives.
Last year, Tucker Carlson even called on the Trump administration to “rescue” him from what Carlson described as political charges.
Brand has always denied the allegations. When he was first charged, he said he had never engaged in nonconsensual activity. Following the verdict, police said that Brand had used his influence, status and fame to prey on and exploit women. Deadline report that the Metropolitan Police are also investigating new rape allegations from two more women.
According to Sky News, Brand will be sentenced on Monday, November 9.
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