Last week, actor-turned-revolutionary icon Russell Brand made news yet again when he got into it with Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK’s Independence Party, on the BBC’s Question Time. Brand accused Farage of, among other things, drinking too much, and Farage has since responded that Brand is the type of revolutionary leader who has his chest hairs flat-ironed. It’s all quite mature and doing so much for spreading awareness of income equality throughout the globe. But that wasn’t the only fun that Brand had on Friday.
Prior to the TV appearance, Brand and his camera crew decided to pop into a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland to lecture bankers on their salaries and bonuses. However, as the Daily Mail reported, nobody really paid attention to the star of Rock of Ages, so he soon “turned his sights on receptionists and security guards working in the lobby,” and they must have been absolutely thrilled to have the wealthy actor, author and comic yelling at them. But we don’t want to speak for those people. Instead, we’ll let one of the people who was at RBS speak for himself.
A man who calls himself Jo wrote on his blog that while he’s not an employee of RBS, he does currently work for the company, and he was there on Friday when Brand stopped in. Jo was simply trying to enjoy his lunch, but Brand’s routine caused his food to get cold, and that didn’t make Jo very happy. He eventually penned an open letter to Brand, explaining that he doesn’t like it when people mess with his food. He’s like the Incredible Hulk of open letter writers.
Hi. I’m Jo. You may remember me. You may even have filmed me. On Friday, you staged a publicity stunt at an RBS office, inconveniencing a hundred or so people. I was the lanky slouched guy with a lot less hair than you but (I flatter myself) a slightly better beard who complained to you that you, a multimillionaire, had caused my lunch to get cold. You started going on at me about public money and bankers’ bonuses, but look, Russell, anyone who knows me will tell you that my food is important to me, and I hadn’t had breakfast that morning, and I’d been standing in the freezing cold for half an hour on your whim. What mattered to me at the time wasn’t bonuses; it was my lunch, so I said so.
Which is a great shame, because I’d usually be well up for a proper barney with you, and the points you made do actually deserve answers. Although not — and I really can’t emphasise this enough, Russell — not as much as I deserve lunch.
Jo apparently had to stand outside and wait to get into the building to eat his lunch because of the scene that Brand was causing. But hey, he’s making your lunch cold for the people.
So, firstly, for the people who weren’t there, let’s describe the kerfuffle. I didn’t see your arrival; I just got back from buying my lunch to discover the building’s doors were locked, a film crew were racing around outside trying to find a good angle to point their camera through the windows, and you were in reception, poncing around like you were Russell bleeding Brand. From what I can gather, you’d gone in and security had locked the doors to stop your film crew following you. Which left us — the people who were supposed to be in the building, who had work to do — standing around in the cold.
My first question is, what were you hoping to achieve? Did you think a pack of traders might gallop through reception, laughing maniacally as they threw burning banknotes in the air, quaffing champagne, and brutally thrashing the ornamental paupers that they keep on diamante leashes — and you, Russell, would damningly catch them in the act? But that’s on Tuesdays. I get it, Russell, I do: footage of being asked to leave by security is good footage. It looks like you’re challenging the system and the powers that be want your voice suppressed. Or something. But all it really means, behind the manipulative media bullshit, is that you don’t have an appointment.
Of course, Russell, I have no idea whether you could get an appointment. Maybe RBS top brass would rather not talk to you. That’s their call — and, you know, some of your behaviour might make them a tad wary. Reputations are very important in banking, and, reputation-wise, hanging out with a guy who was once fired for broadcasting hardcore pornography while off his head on crack is not ideal. But surely a man who can get invited onto Question Time to discuss the issues of the day with our Lords & Masters is establishment enough to talk to a mere banker. And it would be great if you could. Have you tried, Russell? Maybe you could do an interview with one of them. An expert could answer your questions and rebut your points, and you could rebut right back at them. I might even watch that. (By the way, Russell, if you do, and it makes money, I would like a cut for the idea, please. And I’m sure it would. Most things you do make money.)
But instead of doing something potentially educational, Russell, you staged a completely futile publicity stunt. You turned up and weren’t allowed in. Big wow. You know what would have happened if a rabid capitalist had just turned up unannounced? They wouldn’t have been allowed in either. You know what I have in my pocket? A security pass. Unauthorised people aren’t allowed in. Obviously. That’s not a global conspiracy, Russell; it’s basic security. Breweries have security too, and that’s not because they’re conspiring to steal beer from the poor. And security really matters: banks are simply crawling with highly sensitive information. Letting you in because you’re a celebrity and You Demand Answers could in fact see the bank hauled in front of the FCA. That would be a scandal. Turning you away is not. I’m sorry, Russell, but it’s just not.
But what about the lunch, Jo? This was supposed to be about the lunch!
Your response to my complaint that a multimillionaire was causing my lunch to get cold was… well, frankly, it was to completely miss the point, choosing to talk about your millions instead of addressing the real issue, namely my fucking lunch. But that’s a forgivable mistake. We all have our priorities, Russell, and I can understand why a man as obsessed with money as I am with food would assume that’s what every conversation is about. Anyway, you said that all your money has been made privately, not through taxation. Now, that, Russell, is actually a fair point. Well done.
Although I can’t help but notice that you have no qualms about appearing on the BBC in return for money raised through one of the most regressive taxes in the country, a tax which leads to crippling fines and even jail time for thousands of poor people and zero rich people. But never mind. I appreciate that it’s difficult for a celeb to avoid the BBC, even if they’re already a multimillionaire and can totally afford to turn the work down. Ah, the sacrifices we make to our principles for filthy lucre, eh, Russell? The condoms and hairspray won’t buy themselves. Or, in my case, the pasta.
And then there is that film you’re working on, isn’t there, for which I understand your production company is benefitting from the Enterprise Investment Scheme, allowing the City investors funding your film to avoid tax. Was that the film you were making on Friday, Russell, when you indignantly pointed out to me that none of your money comes from the taxpayer? Perhaps it had slipped your mind.
Look, Jo’s letter is long. It might rival a list of the women that Brand has slept with. So let’s skip ahead (but go read all of it, because it’s pretty intense) to my favorite part…
Because, you see, Russell, when you accosted me, you started speaking to me with your nose about two inches from mine. That’s pretty fucking aggressive, Russell. I’m sure you’re aware of the effect. Putting one’s face that close to someone else’s and staring into their eyes is how primates square off for a fight. Regardless of our veneer of civilisation, when someone does that to us, it causes instinctive physical responses: adrenaline, nervousness… back down or lash out. (Or, apparently, in the case of the celebrity bikes you like to hang out with, swoon.) I’m sure that, like turning up with a megaphone instead of an appointment, such an aggressive invasion of personal space makes for great footage: you keep talking to someone in that chatty reasonable affable tone of yours, and they react with anger. Makes them look unreasonable. Makes it look like they’re the aggressive ones. Makes it look like people get flustered in the face of your incisive argument. When in fact they’re just getting flustered in the face of your face.
I’ve been thinking about this the last couple of days, Russell, and I can honestly say that the only other people ever to talk to me the way you did were school bullies. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since I had to deal with such bastards, so I was caught quite off my guard. Nice company you’re keeping. Now I think about it, they used to ruin my lunchtimes too.
That rant was so hot that Jo could have put his pasta on top of it and reheated it thoroughly. While he hasn’t responded, I’m sure Brand will use big words and accuse Jo of being part of the problem, and then he’ll quote the great poet warrior Jay Sherman when he shouts, “BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK!”