# Russell Brand excoriates MSNBC hosts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600 "2013-06-21T23:58:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/41 "2013-06-22T16:42:42Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Brand was visibly upset when Mika said she didn’t know him. > > Sure, she didn’t do her homework, but, you know, does he expect everyone on the press junket to be a fan? In all my 42 years of watching TV, it has _always_ been a common courtesy for the host to at least take _some_ active interest in what the guest is doing or plugging. To not do so is beyond rude. Never mind the fact that she just outright said “I don’t know who Russell Brand is.” Mika is an intellectual snob bitch who regularly walks of the show before it’s even over as if she can’t be bothered with her own fucking career. Joe wasn’t present, but his narcissism is of epic proportions and the fact that these two are paired together is freaking comical. They deserve each other. Seeing these guys be put in there place was nothing short of awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/42 "2013-06-22T16:45:55Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I wanted to hit that guy with a shoe. I hate Americans who can’t understand fairly standard British accents. Granted Brits tend to talk faster but Americans are so debilitated by an accent. I had the same problem when I came to America with a slight accent and lived in Florida. Nobody could understand me unless I spoke at the cadence of a Southern senator. :mad: I’ll confess that I sometimes turn on the closed-captioning when I’m watching a British movie or TV show. But I don’t have to do it for the whole show/movie, I just need to let my ears acclimate to the actors’ speech. For example, when I watched _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ movie in the theater, I could hardly understand a thing Martin Freeman said for the first 20 minutes, but I gradually got used to his accent and after that I had no trouble understanding him. More recently I saw Freeman as Dr. Watson in the BBC _Sherlock Holmes_ show with Benedict Cumberbatch, and Freeman was immediately understandable — I was already used to his voice — but it took a bit to start clearly understanding Cumberbatch. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/43 "2013-06-22T17:03:01Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I wanted to hit that guy with a shoe. I hate Americans who can’t understand fairly standard British accents. Granted Brits tend to talk faster but Americans are so debilitated by an accent. I had the same problem when I came to America with a slight accent and lived in Florida. Nobody could understand me unless I spoke at the cadence of a Southern senator. :mad: > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’ll confess that I sometimes turn on the closed-captioning when I’m watching a British movie or TV show. But I don’t have to do it for the whole show/movie, I just need to let my ears acclimate to the actors’ speech. For example, when I watched _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ movie in the theater, I could hardly understand a thing Martin Freeman said for the first 20 minutes, but I gradually got used to his accent and after that I had no trouble understanding him. More recently I saw Freeman as Dr. Watson in the BBC _Sherlock Holmes_ show with Benedict Cumberbatch, and Freeman was immediately understandable — I was already used to his voice — but it took a bit to start clearly understanding Cumberbatch. This is a great topic to derail a thread so I hope someone will use the idea to start one. I can’t because I have too much trouble parsing speech already. The summer I was at school in Devon, I traveled around on weekends as well as for several weeks after and I quite literally needed a translator at times. I remember hitchhiking on one of the main highways somewhere near London at around 4 in the morning and being picked up by 2 guys on their way to work/deliveries/something. I finally stopped asking them to repeat anything since it was completely hopeless. But as I said and to be fair, I’m pretty hopeless even with mild accents until I can acclimate. Even with my ex, she always tried to talk to keep up with her stream of consciousness and that just didn’t fly. It was an endless struggle to make her slow down and enunciate. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/44 "2013-06-22T17:35:42Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > This is a great topic to derail a thread so I hope someone will use the idea to start one. I can’t because I have too much trouble parsing speech already. The summer I was at school in Devon, I traveled around on weekends as well as for several weeks after and I quite literally needed a translator at times. It’s not just you. I live in central Scotland and within a hundred miles or so of me there are dialects that are quite hard to follow - Aberdeen and Newcastle, and environs. It doesn’t take _too_ long to adjust, but it does take an effort. You would have a hard time understanding me when talking to my friends in a pub ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/45 "2013-06-22T18:37:13Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It’s not just you. I live in central Scotland and within a hundred miles or so of me there are dialects that are quite hard to follow - Aberdeen and Newcastle, and environs. It doesn’t take _too_ long to adjust, but it does take an effort. You would have a hard time understanding me when talking to my friends in a pub quite, I have a good ear for accents and can make sense of most. (though I’m pretty crap at foreign languages) but that is probably because I was exposed to many varied strong accents through family and early work years. It is like listening to Shakespeare plays, you need some time to re-calibrate and adjust. As much to know what you can safely ignore as to what is important. As with all things natural ability varies. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/46 "2013-06-22T18:56:55Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I wanted to hit that guy with a shoe. I hate Americans who can’t understand fairly standard British accents. Granted Brits tend to talk faster but Americans are so debilitated by an accent. I had the same problem when I came to America with a slight accent and lived in Florida. Nobody could understand me unless I spoke at the cadence of a Southern senator. :mad: If nobody could understand you, it’s not their fault…it’s yours. 😃 Do you talk too fast. I don’t think I’m alone in having a hard time understanding Ricky Gervais. His accent, I think is normal, but I think he talks really fast, and maybe doesn’t enunciate well. Having said that, Russell Brand’s accent is hardly a ‘fairly standard British accent’. I don’t know much about the area of the UK where he comes from, but I think it’s safe to say he talks differently then most people from the UK. At the very least, maybe he just enunciates differently. For all I know he’s just hamming up the accent and the people from his own hometown have a hard time understanding him too. Maybe he’s the Bobcat Goldthwait or Emo Phillips of the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/47 "2013-06-22T19:06:10Z")
My husband and I will never forget watching TV in our hotel near Winchester, and seeing a Scot being interviewed on the news - with subtitles translating what he was saying in English, into English. I do wonder, to the extent that Americans ask Brits to slow down more than vice versa, it might simply be that Brits are more likely to watch a lot of American TV than the other way around, so they have that “gear” all ready to engage, in the way **Mister Rik** describes. Anyway, knowing now that these hosts are used to more substantial news topics, it makes sense to me that they were perhaps clumsily trying to engage Brand on a humorous footing. The problem is they’re uncomfortable with it, they are bad at it, and I think if you’re interviewing a comedian, the best thing you can do is be the straight man, ask open-ended questions, and let them be the funny one. Or it’s possible it’s all a giant cultural woosh. Though I doubt British chat show hosts are as awkward and terrified-looking as the _Morning Joe_ crew were. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/48 "2013-06-22T20:10:40Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > My husband and I will never forget watching TV in our hotel near Winchester, and seeing a Scot being interviewed on the news - with subtitles translating what he was saying in English, into English. [Like this?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7iMWlSocQg) ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/49 "2013-06-22T21:22:58Z")
No one understands Scots, including Scots. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/50 "2013-06-22T21:42:43Z")
I’d like conservative-with-a-mind-and-an-attitude Clarkson to interview Brand. Sparks would fly out of the interesting conversation between the two, as opposed to the deer-in-the-headlights drivel on the part of Morning Joe’s dullards. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/51 "2013-06-22T21:44:08Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > … Though I doubt British chat show hosts are as awkward and terrified-looking as the _Morning Joe_ crew were. like this? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Ezruu1oeQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Ezruu1oeQ) though he is a radio show host and doesn’t look as terrified as he claims to be. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/52 "2013-06-22T21:54:24Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > No one understands Scots, including Scots. That’s just unfair. Eastenders (???) though . . . watch [Snatch.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208092/) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/53 "2013-06-22T22:02:55Z")
Good lord! Her “apology” for that interview is eve more rude than when he was actually on the show. They’re really showing their true colors [here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/mika-brzezinski-russell-brand_n_3478090.html?utm_hp_ref=media) LOL, seriously, what’s up with these assholes? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/54 "2013-06-22T22:16:09Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Good lord! Her “apology” for that interview is eve more rude than when he was actually on the show. They’re really showing their true colors [here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/mika-brzezinski-russell-brand_n_3478090.html?utm_hp_ref=media) > > LOL, seriously, what’s up with these assholes? Their heads. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/55 "2013-06-22T22:43:26Z")
That was a pretty bad apology. It was more of an excuse and they should have just let it go instead of dragging it back out into the light. Kind of like the Paula Deen thing (she needs to stop talking too). Did someone say “Wasn’t he married to Kitty Perry?” ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/56 "2013-06-22T22:50:12Z")
Every time I see Russell brand on TV, I swear, I can _smell_ him. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/57 "2013-06-22T23:36:37Z")
In another way, he’s a breath of fresh air. I’ve always found him entertaining, in small doses. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/58 "2013-06-23T01:36:07Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’ll confess that I sometimes turn on the closed-captioning when I’m watching a British movie or TV show. But I don’t have to do it for the whole show/movie, I just need to let my ears acclimate to the actors’ speech. For example, when I watched _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ movie in the theater, I could hardly understand a thing Martin Freeman said for the first 20 minutes, but I gradually got used to his accent and after that I had no trouble understanding him. More recently I saw Freeman as Dr. Watson in the BBC _Sherlock Holmes_ show with Benedict Cumberbatch, and Freeman was immediately understandable — I was already used to his voice — but it took a bit to start clearly understanding Cumberbatch. Heh - it took about a full season of “Misfits” before I was able to understand most of what they were saying (Kelly is the worst). > [@moriah](#): > > Every time I see Russell brand on TV, I swear, I can _smell_ him. I know what you mean - I’d love to see him shaved, showered, and with a nice high and tight haircut! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/59 "2013-06-23T01:51:26Z")
[People like Craig Ferguson don’t have a problem with Russell Brand.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQwe9KIRpu8) 😃 It’s probably a very good thing Craig doesn’t drink or drug any longer - he and Russell could have cut a wide swath through the world together, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/60 "2013-06-23T14:45:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [People like Craig Ferguson don’t have a problem with Russell Brand.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQwe9KIRpu8) 😃 It’s probably a very good thing Craig doesn’t drink or drug any longer - he and Russell could have cut a wide swath through the world together, I suspect. That’s exactly how to handle Russell Brand, haha. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600.md?page=4)