Lorraine Kelly has criticised those around Russell Brand, accusing them of allowing his behaviour to continue unchecked.
The presenter spoke with Lucy Cave on Lorraine about the comedian following his rape and sexual assault convictions.
The exchange aired on Friday, November 6, the day after the verdicts.
Russell was remanded at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, ahead of sentencing. Mr Justice Bennathan warned him that he faced a substantial prison sentence.
Lorraine Kelly challenges excuses for Russell Brand’s behaviour
The presenter was blunt as she introduced the subject: “You’ve met him like I have. I don’t think anyone was surprised.”
Lucy recalled first meeting Russell when he was working on Big Brother’s Big Mouth. She described his move through television and radio before Hollywood roles in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Arthur.
Lucy also discussed how Russell’s public identity had become part of the defence people offered for his conduct.
She said: “He was famous for being Russell Brand, and that was almost something that people used in his defence.”
Lorraine said complaints, including those from female comedians, had been dismissed as part of his public persona.
She then added: “And I have to say, I feel the people around him who allowed this are shameful. They really are; they allowed him to be like that, and nobody said, ‘Stop it’.”
Lorraine also questioned the relationship between Russell’s behaviour and his growing fame.
“It was like the worse he behaved, the more famous he became,” she said.
Russell Brand’s convictions and acquittals
Jurors unanimously convicted Russell of offences against four women between 2004 and 2009.
Russell faced seven charges: three of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault.
The jury convicted him of one rape and three sexual assaults, but cleared him of the remaining three charges. The rape conviction concerned an offence in 2009.
He was acquitted of a rape charge relating to an allegation at a Bournemouth hotel in 1999.
Jurors also cleared him of attempted indecent assault over an alleged incident in central London in 2001.
The third acquittal concerned an allegation of oral rape in a London bar toilet.
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