Russell Brand, the former comedian sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, has used his X account to post a message about Elon Musk, two days after he was taken to HMP Wandsworth. His Instagram and Facebook accounts, which had more than 5 million and 6.2 million followers respectively, were disabled by Meta, but his X account, which has 10 million followers, remains accessible and active.

The post read: "There never was a Russell Brand, according to Meta. Thank God for Elon Musk." It ended with "Stay tuned," and reshared an email from Meta stating that the account had been disabled because its activity did not follow Community Standards, that all information would be permanently deleted, and that no further review of the decision could be requested, although previously shared information could be downloaded.S1S2

Musk, who owns X, has long supported Brand. Before sentencing, he shared a graphic suggesting Brand faced "potential life in jail" and wrote "Unjust," and after the allegations first emerged in a 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches, The Times and Sunday Times investigation involving five women, he said "I support Russell Brand. That man is not evil." Brand denied the allegations at the time.S1

Brand was sentenced by Mr Justice Bennathan on Monday, November 9, who described him as a predator and criticised his "staggering arrogance" while he was acquitted of two counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault. He is expected to serve two-thirds of his sentence before release on licence and will be on the sex offenders' register for life. Donald Trump Jr. defended Brand on his Triggered programme, suggesting he had been targeted over his newfound faith and conservative views.S2