ON MONDAY, RUSSELL Brand had a very public encounter with Galway-born Channel 4 News reporter Paraic O’Brien.
Brand called O’Brien ‘a snide’ after being asked about the value of his property in London, after a march to support residents of the New Era estate in east London.
The incident quickly became something of a social media phenomenon.
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O’Brien has defended his line of questioning. Meanwhile, Brand has responded to the incident in detail, in an entire seven-minute episode of his YouTube series The Trews.
He admitted overreacting, but said the question was “a combination of boring and really annoying”:
I do overreact. I’m a bit of a heart-on-the-sleeve kind of person. [But] I do genuinely care about the New Era estate. [...] And you get there and there’s a journalist there [...] and then when he actually does go ‘How much is your rent’, it’s like, mate, come on, do us a favour. It’s exhausting.
Brand also quoted the Rubberbandits, who he recently worked with. He said:
We’re friends with the Rubberbandits, the Irish hip hop group, and they said that guy, who’s an Irishman, should understand what it’s like to have land and property seized by a higher authority.
Brand’s supporters have also been vocal over the incident:
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Here’s the full episode:
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