One of the crimes Russell Brand was convicted of was pressing his head into the groin area of a woman he badgered into giving him a massage. This happened in 2009, and now one of the guys who laughed has, 17 years later, lost his job.
Vanity reports:
A producer [Jack Bayles] who is alleged to have laughed while Russell Brand put his head on a woman’s groin has stepped back from his role as head of comedy at the London production company behind Michaela Coel’s sexual assault drama “I May Destroy You.”
…
In a statement, [Bayles] told The Times: “I am appalled and sickened by Brand’s actions and have co-operated fully and voluntarily with the investigation and endeavoured to assist as best I can. However, I do not remember the incident that took place 17 years ago in 2009. But I acknowledge that I clearly missed something at the time and did not see nor recognise that it caused distress. For that I am sincerely sorry.
This happened 17 years ago while Bayles worked for Channel 4.
Today, he works (worked) for Various Artists Limited, and now he’s out of a job.
I’m in no way downplaying the behavior, but what does “put his head on a woman’s groin” even mean, and how is that “assault,” and how is it “assault” 17 years later, and why is a man who laughed at the antics losing his job for that laugh 17 years later?
Apparently, when Brand was demanding a massage, Bayles told this young woman to “just do it,” but that was 17 years ago. And now he’s out of a job for laughing when a powerful celebrity acted stupid?
Sure, he owes (and owed) this young lady an apology, but any reasonable person can see that we are long past justice or any sense of right and wrong. This is a recrimination. This is bitter vigilantism.
That’s my whole problem with the #MeToo movement and the left in general. You can strangle three kids and become a folk hero, but there is no forgiveness, no statute of limitations, and no punishment harsh enough to be given a second chance.
How about his track record…? Is this it? Over 17 years, this is his only sin…? And now he’s out, disgraced, and unemployed over a 17-year-old laugh?
No one even considers how much people can change and grow over 17 years.
What a world.
