Noel Fielding Regrets Old Jokes After Russell Brand Conviction

In a statement to The Sun, Fielding said he had been “completely unaware” of Brand’s crimes and expressed sympathy for the women who came forward. He said he and Brand had worked together on television, radio and charity performances, but were not close personal friends and had not communicated in years.

The pair met at the NME Awards in the early 2000s and later became known as “The Goth Detectives.” They appeared in sketches and on Channel 4’s “The Big Fat Quiz of the Year,” while Fielding also joined Brand’s BBC Radio 2 program. Their frequent public appearances helped create an impression of a close friendship, Fielding said, but that did not reflect their relationship away from cameras.

Fielding said of their past material: “They were horrible and inappropriate, and I very much regret them.” Old clips have circulated again since Brand’s conviction, including an exchange on a 2007 episode of “The Big Fat Quiz of the Year” with Jonathan Ross and Lily Allen. Ross made a joke about Allen sitting beside the two comedians; Fielding replied with a remark denying that he and Brand were rapists. The exchange has drawn renewed criticism for treating sexual violence as a punchline.

Allen, who was 21 and the only woman on the panel, recalled the comments in a 2023 interview with Grazia, later revisited by The Independent. She said she laughed at the time but found the remarks disturbing in retrospect, and described the influence of the entertainment industry’s culture on her response. Fielding acknowledged the jokes’ inappropriateness but did not specifically address Allen’s comments. He has not been accused of misconduct, and the source reports no evidence that he knew of Brand’s crimes.

Brand, 51, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The Metropolitan Police said a Southwark Crown Court jury unanimously convicted him on November 5 after a four-week trial. The offenses involved four women and took place between 2004 and 2009. Police said investigators reviewed more than 1,400 documents and gathered evidence from over 100 witnesses. Ross has also said he was unaware of Brand’s crimes and expressed support for the victims.