When the SA allegations against Russell Brand first went public, Megyn Kelly was not holding back. She was passionate, pointed, and clear about where she stood. But by the time Brand sat down on her podcast, something had shifted dramatically, and the contrast between the two versions of Kelly is hard to ignore.
In her original response to the allegations, Kelly pushed back hard against those rushing to Brand’s defense. She directly addressed the graphic details of one accuser’s account on air, saying, “My limbs are trapped underneath him and I just thought, why are you doing this? It can’t even be any sexual gratification in this. And then he held my mouth shut and made me swallow it. So I was just gagging and crying.”
She used that account to challenge the reflexive dismissal of the women coming forward, adding, “I realize that the knee-jerk instinct now by so many is Russell Brand is wrongly accused. These women are all liars. I’m sorry. This is extremely detailed.”
She also referenced corroborating evidence, pointing to medical records and text messages. Kelly stated, “In the case of the other woman, there’s an actual set of medical records after she went to a r*pe crisis center the day of the alleged encounter, plus apologetic begging for forgiveness text from Russell Brand.”
She called out those defending him without engaging with the specifics. He said, “Did you read the report of this woman? Did you read the alleged r*pe details? Did you read the text message that she has from Russell Brand begging for forgiveness?”
And on the question of Brand sleeping with a 16-year-old, she was direct: “I’m done. If he had s*x with a 16-year-old when he was 31, I’m done. I’m not his fan. I am perfectly comfortable condemning that full force. If he admits to just that alone, it’s over. And I don’t care how many sponsors he loses.”
Then Brand went on her show. He admitted to sleeping with a 16-year-old. And Kelly’s position evaporated.
Her new take, as summarized was: that she didn’t understand the full picture. Now that she’s looked into it more, she realizes a lot of it’s unfair and Russell’s just being targeted because he was outspoken about the COVID vaccine.”
The same woman who criticized others for not reading the details of the accusations was now saying she had not looked into the details enough herself, despite having read them aloud on camera.
By the end of her interview with Brand, Kelly was floating the idea that a potential conviction might simply be part of God’s plan for him, saying. She said, “What if it is part of your path? What if you’re supposed to be like ministering to men in jail or changing the lives of the least fortunate among us and this is part of, you know, God’s plan for you?”
The two versions of Megyn Kelly on this story are so far apart that it is genuinely difficult to reconcile them as the same person.
