Russell Brand isn’t the only person on the hippy to alt-right pipeline and the left should be aware of this
Ah, Russell Brand. Once a left-wing celebrity, cheeky chappie comedian and new age guru, who edited an issue of the New Statesman. Now he’s a cautionary tale of what happens when fame, conspiracy theories, and a desire to hold onto an online following collide in a perfect storm of social media madness.
In 2023, very serious allegations emerged about the erstwhile spiritual revolutionary as many women accused him of sexual assault and rape. This burned any credibility he had left, but before that he had already dived down a very dark rabbit hole. How did he get from interviews with Jeremy Paxman to being too edgy for YouTube?
The brand we knew
Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we? Back in the heady days of 2013 Brand was an icon for those positioned somewhere to the left of Labour. In the Ed Miliband era - remember those halcyon times - when Labour flittered between attacking the effects of austerity, insisting it was necessary and denigrating student protesters, Brand was a charismatic voice shaking up the Labour-Liberal-Conservative consensus.
He made people on the left think that politics could be radical again; until it became clear that all his revolutionary musings were about as shallow as a puddle of spilt beer, and all this was just the warm-up act for his grand performance as an internet sensation.
Middle-class new age hippyism with a tinge of the paranoid
I’ll admit, I was never a fan of Brand’s particular brand of cynicism mixed with spiritual hand waving, which sounded like it was cribbed from the back of a book called “Pagan Meditations.” His approach always struck me as middle-class new age hippyism with a tinge of the paranoid - “They’re trying to control your minds!” - than a program for social change. He talked as if all it took to topple neoliberalism was for us all to align our chakras.
It’s all well and good to meditate on the state of the world, but I’d rather be wielding a picket sign than chanting about the cosmos at a psychedelic retreat. My previous critiques of Brand are well documented.
The oddly neoliberal politics of spiritualism
It quickly became apparent that Brand was less interested in changing the world and more interested in getting attention. He is, at heart, a tabloid celebrity.
Remember when he was a mainstream comedian and actor, in films such as Get Him To The Greek? Those days seem so far away now. His infamous “I've never voted, never will” quip was nothing more than a cynical, defeatist ploy to be a rebellious enfant terrible, rather than a serious critique of the system. Spoiler alert: it didn’t change anything.
I can understand the appeal of not voting for the identikit mainstream parties, but Brand’s wholesale rejection of everything ended up endorsing nothing. It was oddly neoliberal in the end. Collapse into yourself, disconnect from wider social movements and focus on your spiritual awakening rather than pursuing change. At least Jeremy Corbyn articulated how society could be different, and he ended up inspiring more people.
Going down the alt-right rabbit hole
Brand’s desire for attention made him a tabloid sensation, then a comedian come TV presenter come radio host - remember the whole Sachsgate thing - then a lightweight political thinker, and finally a conspiracy spreading social media personality. For Brand, this journey has led him to the murky waters of the alt-right.
How did we get here? Well, he used his old-fashioned TV and tabloid fame as a springboard to internet stardom, but fame on social media is a different beast to the type of fame you get from shagging models and being publicly on drugs.
To maintain his online reach, Brand must pander to the algorithms that rule our digital lives and control our information diet, feeding them outrageous content like a barman furiously pouring beer at a pound-a-pint night. He’s caught in an arms race with platforms designed to find the most extreme thing that will hold our attention. Be nice to each other and make the rich pay their taxes won’t cut it. Casting doubt on vaccines will.
From pagans to Cottagecore
And here’s where it gets truly murky. In the quest for clicks and likes, Brand has become a veritable buffet of attention-grabbing conspiracy theories. Whether he believes these wild tales or is merely using them to get views is up for debate, but one thing is clear: he’s committed to feeding the social media algorithm demon like a starved gremlin.
The place his politics have ended up reminds me of the toxic blend of ludditeism, belief in magic and anarcho-primitivism of some of the hippy-pagan types I met at university. They distrusted modernity so much they’d have traded their smartphones for a life in a yurt, celebrating the noble savage while ignoring all the conveniences of the 21st century. Conveniences such as modern medicine, sanitation, time saving devices and notions of equality.
This has its very online counterpart in the Cottagecore movement that celebrates the romantic ideal of living in nature and being self-sufficient, whilst ignoring how much back breaking labour is needed to grow enough calories to keep a person alive. When combined with the radicalising attention arms race of social media, this back-to-nature rebellion has been extremified online, creating a strange breed of left disillusionment that’s now playing footsie with the far-right.
When it’s not okay to be contrarian
They’re the type of lefties who doubt vaccines because they’re made by big pharma, think Vladimir Putin is standing up to Western Imperialism, RFK Jr is just asking questions, and that Jordan Peterson is just giving smug liberals a slap in the face.
Obviously, there are important critiques of how big pharma distributes the vaccines it makes, and Western Imperialism wasn’t consigned to the dustbin of history in the 19th century. There is also nothing wrong with following any religion - from Christianity to something new age or pagan - or longing for the romantic ideal of living off grid in a cottage. But a lot of well-meaning lefties have gone from being sceptical of the mainstream media to wholeheartedly and uncritically swallowing whatever the furthest thing from the mainstream media says. Brand is just a high-profile example of this.
For Brand, it’s been a slippery slope from speaking on spiritual matters to cozying up with alt-right ideologies. He’s followed his audience down this rabbit hole, and here we are, left with an online alt-weirdo who seems to thrive on being a contrarian. It’s fine to be a contrarian when you’re winding up an old TV celebrity - although when I heard the Sachsgate clip I thought it was more mean than funny - but it’s not okay when you’re spreading doubt about vaccines.
Riding the algorithm tiger
While I can’t say I ever bought into Brand’s blend of spiritualism and politics, the whole meditate your way to class consciousness thing, I can say it pales in comparison to the darker truth: the allegations of abuse.
Therein lies the crux of the matter. While I may not agree with his philosophical meanderings, it’s far worse to be an abuser. His doubling down and denial are textbook moves for an alt-right celebrity who needs the spotlight, regardless of the cost. Never apologise. Never admit you are wrong. Deflect all accusations as the establishment trying to destroy you. Brand is acting no different to Trump when the allegations about the current president surfaced in 2016.
Why now?
Why bring this all up now? Well, it’s partly because I didn’t get around to writing this in 2023 when the allegations first surfaced. However, it’s mainly because this slightly hippy left to alt-right pipeline is still very much a thing. These allegations might have finally killed Brand’s career, and shredded the last tattered remains of his credibility, but there are still many people riding the algorithmic train, farming radicalising content to the hippy leftie set. They’re just less well known because they didn’t used to be on TV.
I encourage everyone to be sceptical of what the mainstream media says, and what centrist politicians and big business pushes. That includes Meta and Alphabet, via their Facebook and YouTube products, even if you agree with the message someone is spreading via these tech platforms. However, just because someone is criticising your enemy doesn’t mean they’re your friend.
There’s a short walk from ‘maybe alternative medicine has some positive effects, meditation is good for you and my spiritual beliefs aren’t a mainstream religion or mercilessly materialistic atheism’ - shout out to my mercilessly materialistic atheist buddies - to making videos about how Putin is fighting the New World Order.
Keep your wits about you
Keep your wits about you and remember that Putin is still an Imperialist, modern medicine does work, and we would not be better off living a hunter gatherer existence even if it would solve the climate crisis. I shouldn’t have to say this, but I didn’t think people would believe Brand’s “don’t vote for anyone schtick” was anything more than attention grabbing cynicism. Including the New Statesman.
When in doubt, remember to log off occasionally. Celebrities and tech companies are united in their desire to push anything that will hold your attention. Your attention is all they care about. Not whatever it is YOU care about, from the benefits of a vegan diet to the victims of Western Imperialism. Now I’m going to take my own advice and back away from the computer.
