Russell Brand’s old jokes about jail are circulating again after he received a 10-and-a-half-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault.
Brand, 51, made the remarks during a 2014 appearance on “The Jonathan Ross Show” alongside Lindsay Lohan, 40, where he discussed his 2012 arrest in New Orleans for throwing a photographer’s iPhone. The resurfaced clip shows him complaining about the conditions he faced in police custody.
“Sometimes they would leave me in police cells for a while, and I didn’t like that very much. It was tiresome. It’s lonely. It’s hard to build rapport,” Brand said in the clip, drawing laughter from the studio audience.
He went on to compare American and British policing, telling Lohan, “It’s worse getting arrested in your country than it is in mine.” Brand joked that UK officers were “so much more friendly,” noting that they handcuff suspects in front rather than behind their backs. He also quipped about US police confiscating his drugs, adding, “It’s boring in the cell. That’s when you need drugs.”
Lohan appeared visibly shocked by his comments and revealed her own experience with incarceration, stating that she had once spent 14 days in solitary confinement. “Solitary confinement is very different. You leave your cell for one hour a day, and you don’t go outside,” she said.
Brand was sentenced on Monday after being found guilty on Nov. 5 of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two additional rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. Justice Joel Bennathan had warned him beforehand that he faced a “significant” prison sentence.
Following sentencing, solicitor Kally Sahota said that Brand would remain at HMP Wandsworth in London for “the next few weeks” before being transferred to another prison based on his “security, safety and rehabilitation needs.”
He is reportedly being assessed for a possible transfer to HMP Wakefield, a high-security facility sometimes called “Monster Mansion,” where child sex offender Ian Watkins was stabbed to death last year.
Brand reportedly spent his first 24 hours behind bars “staying in his cell as much as he can” and “trying not to show fear” as he awaits his transfer to another prison.
Since his conviction, six more women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him. One of them, a 19-year-old named Vicky, alleged that he continued having sex with her despite her asking him to stop because she was in pain.
Brand will remain at HMP Wandsworth for the coming weeks before authorities determine his permanent prison placement.