# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/61 "2013-06-23T15:24:24Z")
> [@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. you gotta also link to the prior visit to find out why Russell was apologising to Geoff! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k30\_ovcNKGk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k30_ovcNKGk) he chopped his head off. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/62 "2013-06-23T15:47:21Z")
> [@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. But what was _really_ cool about that clip was that they were having a half-goofy discussion about Jungian vs. Freudian psychoanalytics anchored on a decent understanding of the underlying concepts. Brand has his issues but he is smarter than your average bear - someone like Ferguson can handle it because he is, too. Sounds like the MJ folks simply took Brand too lightly… ---
**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 23, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/63 "2013-06-23T19:11:33Z")
Good interview with Craig Ferguson, good interview with David Letterman, good previous interview with Conan, bad interview with Morning Joe. Is it the interviewee or the interviewers? Hmmm . . . let’s think hard about that one. ---
**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 23, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/64 "2013-06-23T20:35:13Z")
> [@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. 😃 Next time I want to come on to my husband, I’m totally saying, “Go on, have a rummage.” Also, I sympathize with your shave-and-a-haircut comment. As I approach 40, one of the things that makes me feel old is I’m constantly seeing hot guys on TV and thinking, “Oh, he’s so cute, if only he’d shave.” (Or, you know, go for an actual beard. It’s the scruff thing that offends my antiquated sensibilities.) ---
**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 23, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/65 "2013-06-23T20:46:58Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > 😃 Next time I want to come on to my husband, I’m totally saying, “Go on, have a rummage.” > > Also, I sympathize with your shave-and-a-haircut comment. As I approach 40, one of the things that makes me feel old is I’m constantly seeing hot guys on TV and thinking, “Oh, he’s so cute, if only he’d shave.” (Or, you know, go for an actual beard. It’s the scruff thing that offends my antiquated sensibilities.) I wouldn’t worry. The scruff thing is part of the hipster movement. Give it a few years and the scruff will be gone and there will be some new fashion fad to annoy you. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/66 "2013-06-23T21:26:16Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I wouldn’t worry. The scruff thing is part of the hipster movement. Give it a few years and the scruff will be gone and there will be some new fashion fad to annoy you. [sheepishly]Scuff is about the best some of us can manage.[/baaa] ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/67 "2013-06-23T21:45:58Z")
He dressed like that long before hipsters. It’s a bit Brighton antique dealer meets Kenneth Williams in a wig. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/68 "2013-06-23T22:19:22Z")
“She’s a shaft-grasper!” Hilarious. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/69 "2013-06-23T22:43:55Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Every time I see Russell brand on TV, I swear, I can _smell_ him. You’re assuming because of his stage persona, he doesn’t bathe? How odd. Here, let me step back off of your lawn. 😃 ---
**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 23, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/70 "2013-06-23T23:33:42Z")
Ferguson liked how he smelled. ---
**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 24, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/71 "2013-06-24T00:13:26Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Ferguson liked how he smelled. I noted that, too. 🙂 I also noted that Craig and Russell were getting kind of intellectual there - those are two fairly smart guys, I’d have to say. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/72 "2013-06-24T09:00:47Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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. His accent isn’t at all unusual, though his ‘manner’ of speaking is. He’s from Essex, a county just to the right of London and sharing many characteristics with cockney. Same accent as Jamie Oliver. He is very easily understood here, I’m quite surprised some Americans find it so unfathomable. He hams it up, for sure, and practically sounds like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. Essex is kind of the New Jersey of the UK. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/73 "2013-06-24T09:09:52Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > He’d make one hell of a talking head on a political show if he wanted it. A surprisingly serious one - he appeared just last week on the BBC’s Question Time, the UK’s most watched serious political debate show. It’s a panel show where the audience poses topical questions, with the panel made up of government ministers, serving MPs a from all political sides, political journalists etc. Brand shared the platform with the Mayor of London, the former Olympics Minister and the current Energy Minister, as well as a right wing political journalist. [Here he comments on drug laws](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MSTq9kDQxM) […and on government intervention in Syria](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzHpzhm5lsU). ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/74 "2013-06-24T10:25:45Z")
On Americans and the whole accent thing I think it’s just in general Americans are not used to hearing any other accents than American accents. I travel to the US quite a bit and find if I approach someone to ask them something I always have to repeat what I ask as the initial reaction tends to be shock at the unintelligible noises emerging from my mouth. They then do a mental reset and are then able to understand me to an extent. I am from the UK and have a London’ish accent. It makes sense to me as America has such a vast media output those within America don’t need to be exposed to anything else and so don’t come into contact with non American accents much. Non American’s will see their own media but also will have exposure to American media and so don’t really have problems understanding standard American accents. Someone also mentioned about the speed of talking and I can only say in my experience all of my US colleagues noticeably speak more slowly. I have always noticed this difference so I think it’s real though it is of course anecdotal. Oh and I would agree Brand’s accent is fairly standard Essex. Not that odd at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/75 "2013-06-24T12:05:01Z")
For those who want to see Brand in full flow on a British political commentary program, here’s [Russell Brand on Question Time](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO0AanDR-_0) (sorry, that’s the whole show). I find Brand’s manic free-flowing style irritating in anything more than small doses and I’ve never been able to watch his performances, but he was absolutely right to call the Morning Joe hosts on their superficial crap and general inability to do their damn jobs. When Russell Brand can step in and do your job better than you, reconsider your life choices. Also: Mika Brzezinski. I know she thinks she’s slumming it (and she probably is - one would hope Zbigniew’s daughter would have some decent news chops) but that’s not Russell Brand’s fault. She can either take the $2million salary from MSNBC and report fluff or go work for NPR for a pittance and some integrity, but she can’t have her cake and eat it too. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/76 "2013-06-25T19:51:24Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Exactly. I don’t think there was any animosity there at all, just Brand deciding to take over the show. It’s kind of what he does, just riffing on the situation. Katty Kay calling him “Willy” is a gift to any comedian. I adore Brand in every imaginable way, first off. Secondly, I don’t think it was a perfectly normal, unremarkable interview, BUT, I hardly think he “excoriated” anybody at all. He was visibly annoyed, if mildly so, right from the top. It was very clear that he thought these people were clueless idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/77 "2013-06-26T09:16:33Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > It was very clear that he thought these people were clueless idiots. It was very clear that they **were**. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/78 "2013-06-26T11:39:54Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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. Nope, I’m from his hometown and his accent is absolutely typical of a Grays accent. Slurring and all. He doesn’t even ham it up - he just refuses to posh it up a bit like most people do when on TV. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/79 "2013-06-26T13:42:43Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > If you can’t see the whole piece is consensual banter … I don’t know what you’re used to. Yeah, I’m not really seeing it. To me it looked more like they _didn’t_ have prearranged banter and were trying (badly) to improvise a bit with Brand, almost as though they expected him to be in character as Aldous Snow. Or just plain had no idea what to do with him, and were trying to prevent his making them look foolish. And what do you know? He didn’t have to. Whatever it was, it was embarrassing. ---
**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 26, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600/80 "2013-06-26T17:17:19Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Yeah, I’m not really seeing it. To me it looked more like they _didn’t_ have prearranged banter and were trying (badly) to improvise a bit with Brand, almost as though they expected him to be in character as Aldous Snow. Or just plain had no idea what to do with him, and were trying to prevent his making them look foolish. And what do you know? He didn’t have to. > > Whatever it was, it was embarrassing. If they had done any research on him at all (which it does not appear they did, and they seemed to even admit that), they would have known what a spectacularly bad idea that was. I also think they expected him to just be a nice, polite, go-along-to-get-along usual kind of guest, and that’s just not him. So, this Mika person is supposed to be some kind of serious journalist? She looked about as professional as the “boom goes the dynamite” kid to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russell-brand-excoriates-msnbc-hosts/661600.md?page=3)