Russell Brand has always prided himself on ruffling feathers. Indeed, the ruffle-haired, one-time-winklepicker-championing anti-establishment icon even uses a crow (farting), as the logo for his website and podcast. And yet, his preferred platforms have changed over the years: from London’s stand-up circuit to prime spots on British radio and terrestrial TV, to the Hollywood red carpet, and now to the favourite of every cash-hungry rebel – social media. Yes, the 48-year-old has become a darling of the self-styled “free-speakers” of the internet, with the likes of Andrew Tate, Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson name-checking him as a mainstream-fighting compadre. But really, it seems as though his great talent lies not in speaking truth to power, but in speaking so much and at such speed that you no longer remember what the truth was in the first place. Oh, and he also knows how to write a headline that will whet even a great sceptic’s appetite. With this in mind, indy100 has taken a look at some of the most attention-grabbing titles on his YouTube channel, to see what exactly he’s been peddling: 'Covid Tsar Admits Lockdowns Were NEVER About Science'; 'So, Trump Just Said THIS about Vaccines And it Changes EVERYTHING'; 'The Queen’s Funeral – the HIDDEN Truth THAT NOBODY’s TALKING ABOUT'; 'Bill Gates Has Been HIDING This And It's ALL About To Come Out'. Brand is, evidently, a master of clickbait and adoring followers or, as he likes to call them, his “awakening wonders” – who have helped contribute to him having more than 6 million followers on YouTube alone. His articulately spun monologues, which prance along with rhetorical acrobatics and comic asides at the expense of “big business, big media and big government”. And yet, while he’s railing against world powers’ alleged propensity to mislead and deceive the public, he’s showing off his own skills at influencing others. He boasts that he wouldn’t dare tell his viewers what to think, yet in the same breath – or in the same headline – declares that he’s discussing the “truth” – which, by traditional definitions, should refer to objective, irrefutable fact. In one episode, titled, ‘Joe Rogan UNMASKS CNN’s True Agenda’, which is about the US broadcaster’s relationship with Pfizer, he says: “You can decide for yourself whether you think there's a connection between the stance of particular media organisations and the kind of financial partnerships that they have.” However, after playing a reel showing programmes on the network which are “sponsored by Pfizer”, he stresses: “But once you've seen that bloody montage, it's like the scales fall from your eyes surely, don't they?” Oh, but then he quickly adds: “But that's just what I think. What do you think?” Most recently, Brand proved he’d secured the unfaltering loyalty of his fanbase by openly addressing the allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him. In a video titled ‘So, This Is Happening’ and delivered in his usual no-pause-for-breath style, the presenter announced: “This isn't the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story, I am the news. “I've received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like my community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel. “But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time when I was in the movies, and as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. “Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that. Then almost too transparent, and I'm being transparent about it now as well, and to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?” He then went on to describe previous “coordinated media attacks” targeted at the likes of Joe Rogan. Then, channeling Andrew Tate’s “Matrix” narrative, he continued: “I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, ‘Watch out, Russell, they're coming for you. You're getting too close to the truth.” Finally, after suggesting that a “serious and concerted agenda” had been launched to “control” voices and platforms such as his, he urged his followers to “stay close, stay awake” and, most importantly, “stay free”. His statement was met with an instant flood of support, with one writing: “We support you, [it's] obvious this was going to happen, in fact inevitable.” The only real inevitability here is that his legions of admirers would respond in this way. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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His brother might be his business partner, but Jake Paul has never been a fan of KSI and it looks like things aren’t changing any time soon. There’s been a long-running feud between the pair for years now, but where did it all start? Essentially, the pair’s resentment of each other stems from the early days of YouTube boxing, when KSI and Jake’s brother Logan Paul emerged as the two biggest figures on the scene. KSI first took on Logan in 2018 which resulted in a draw. Then, he fought Logan again in 2019 and won by split decision. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter During that time, the pair were 'frenemies' of sorts and built up anticipation by clashing regularly in a war of words. Since then, they’ve largely buried the hatchet to launch their hugely successful Prime energy drink together. But for Jake, it’s not been so easy to move on and let bygones be bygones – and he still wants to avenge his brother’s loss. Speaking about his feud with KSI on the BS podcast, Jake said: "Logan grabbed me and he was drunk in this sprinter van and I could tell how badly he was emotionally hurting from the loss to KSI. "I was seeing him and he was like drinking from the bottle, whilst I was sitting there sober. He was talking with his friends about the loss and I saw how badly it hurt him. In that same sprinter van ride, he grabbed me by the neck and said 'you have to beat KSI for our family'.” Another point of contention surrounds one of KSI’s previous fights. When considering how KSI will get on against Tommy Fury in their fight in October, Logan told Donagh Corby: “I think Tommy knocks him out in like less than five rounds.” He added: “I mean [KSI] is doing these gimmick WWE fights up until now. Tommy is his first real test, but who knows, he might throw an elbow on Tommy, too.” The comment about the elbow is a reference to KSI’s bout with Joe Fournier which was classified as a “no contest” after the fight after the winning knockout from KSI was ruled to be an illegal elbow strike. In fact, KSI and Logan themselves have been talking up the chances of a fight taking place between them for years now. They’ve been taking potshots at each other on social media. Before the fight between KSI and Fury was signed, he previously took a shot at him and Jake by writing: "What you waiting for @tommytntfury? Sign the damn contract and let me show you the difference between me and that fraud who only wins against retired MMA pensioners." The “MMA pensioners” comment was a reference to his win over former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, who was 47 when he fought Paul in 2022. Not one to back down easily, Jake replied: "This clown…tried to fight [Dillon Danis] who has never boxed and put a rehydration clause on him. Fought a 40 year old who hadn’t fought for 3 years and put a rehydration clause on him before elbowing him. Now trying to squeeze Tommy. I elevated Tommy, my son is now worth a lot more than the $1.5M offers you making. Tommy, February we run it back." Hitting out again, KSI responded by claiming Jake’s popularity had fallen dramatically. "We ain’t offering 1.5 million It’s crazy how much your hype has died since you lost. No one cares anymore,” he wrote. KSI has also made it clearly that he just doesn’t like Jake as a person at all, too. As he explained to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour in May this year, KSI said: “I don’t know, we’ve kind of just hated each other for so many years. I think there are several reasons, but because I don’t really dwell on it until it’s time, so I don’t really know. “I think it’s ego. It’s one of the ones where he thinks he’s better than me, I think he’s trash… We just don’t see eye to eye. I just think he’s a d***head. I just don’t think he’s a good person. I know he’s got friends, I know he’s got a lot of people that like him, but there’s a lot of people that hate him, and I’m one of them. I just don’t like him. I just don’t like everything about him. And I feel like he also tries to s*** on everything that I have done, or that I have worked hard for. When I look at him I go, ‘Compared to what you’ve done, to me, you are not on my level, but I’m still going to show you.’ Someone who is devoting all their time into boxing, I can still come from all my music tours, all my YouTube videos, all my Sidemen videos, whatever, my Prime, etc., I can come into your realm and still knock you out.” Will we ever get to see a fight between the pair? The way they've been talking about each other over the years, we'd never rule it out. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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