Russell Brand in Lock Up — Life Behind Bars REVEALED

You were clever and in many people's. eyes funny and charismatic. You had also. become a sexual predator. The total. sentence is one of 10 years [music] 6. months. >> Actor and comedian Russell Brand is now. facing the music following his prison. sentence on [music] rape and sexual. assault charges. This is as he's. beginning the harsh new reality behind. bars. But what can he expect? [music]. We're getting an inside look at what his. dayto-day could look like for possibly.

the next [music] decade inside a prison. facility reportedly known for inhumane. conditions. And meanwhile, [music] the. accusations against the disgraced. celebrity continue, including from his. ex-girlfriend, TV producer Jamaima. Goldsmith. the shocking details of. alleged violence, [music] coercive. control, abuse that she shared this week. on social media. [music] Could that. bring Russell Brand even more charges? Let's talk about it. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber.

It's been 2 days since Russell Brand was. officially sentenced in a London. courtroom to 10 years and 6 months. behind bars. And it's now when we're. getting a closer look at what that time. could actually look like for the. disgraced actor and comedian. And this. includes conditions in his London prison. facility that have been described as. inhumane and overcrowded. And that's. only part of the update because there. are now more abuse accusations that are.

surfacing this week, including from. producer Jamaima Goldsmith, who. apparently dated Bran for roughly a year. between 2013 and 2014. She took to X. with a lengthy post that included claims. of violence, coercive control, abuse all. throughout their relationship. So, could. Russell Brand now face yet another trial. as more accusers come forward, more. charges potentially? Clearly, we got a. lot to get into today and we're going to. break it all down with prison consultant. Justin Bernie. So, you're not going to.

want to miss that because I want his. perspective on what Russell Brand might. be going through. But I got to give a. quick recap on what has transpired in. the last seven days. Remember, Bran was. convicted last Thursday on one count of. rape and three counts of sexual assault. after a week's long trial. And these. charges stem from several different. incidents. According to reports from the. Mirror and the BBC, Bran was found. guilty of groping a woman at a London. bar during a party in 2004. He was also. convicted of kissing and groping a. Choice FM worker at the Capitol radio.

building in 2005, sexually assaulting a. Channel 4 worker in 2009. This is when. she had been forced to give him a. massage. The rape conviction involved a. 21-year-old fan who met Brand after a. stand-up show in 2009. Now, he was. cleared of two counts of rape and one. count of attempted indecent assault, but. he was still convicted of those other. charges. And as we saw earlier this. week, the judge did not really hold back. on his remarks during Bran's sentencing. hearing. >> About 20 years ago, Russell Brand, you.

were becoming famous. You were clever. and in many people's eyes, funny and. charismatic. You had also become a. sexual predator. In your trial, I saw. both women give evidence at length. They. were both accomplished women who took. perfectly reasonable decisions to go to. a party and have a few drinks or to go. to your house for one type of consensual. sex.

They were no more or less vulnerable. than any adult woman making those. choices. I pause to add and stress at. once the fact they did so in no way, shape or form diminishes your. culpability for sexually assaulting one. and raping the other. Whatever women. wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever. they drink, they retain the right to say. no and to to demand justice from the.

criminal courts when sexual predators. like you, Ross Brand, act without their. consent. >> So, the now 51-year-old Brand claimed. that he had been targeted by defamatory. statements. And this includes during a. 2023 documentary expose. He admitted. that he may have been promiscuous, but. he insisted everything was always. consensual. But regardless, Bran still. faces a prison sentence spanning more. than a decade. Though the actual length. of that term varies because the judge.

said Bran will have to serve 2thirds of. his sentence, which adds up to roughly. seven years behind bars. Still pretty. significant. And then he's going to. spend the rest of his sentence on. license, which is, you know, the. equivalent of parole in the US. meaning. if he violates those terms, he could be. remanded back to prison. But the judge. said Bran will also be indefinitely. subject to notification requirements. connected to the UK Sex Offenses Act of. 2003, meaning he's going to have to. register as a sex offender for life. But.

what exactly is his time, all those. years behind bars, going to look like? Cali Soda, who's a senior solicitor and. director of SHOTA and SHOTAD solicitors, gave an exclusive interview with Page. Six. And this was detailing the. conditions at the facility that Bran. will begin his sentencing because Soda. told the publication that Bran will. remain at HMP Wsworth in London for. quote the next few weeks, but then he'll. be transferred to another prison based.

on security, safety, and rehabilitation. needs. As far as visitation goes, Zoda. said it usually happens in a large. communal hall, including a commissary. with teas, coffees, chocolate. Children. are allowed to play to keep the. experience as normal as possible for. them. Remember, Bran shares three kids. with his wife, Laura Gallaer, who was in. court supporting him throughout his. trial. So, you can imagine that they. might plan to visit him while he serves. his sentence. Though, the prison only. allows three visitors per inmate at a.

time. So someone seemingly is going to. have to skip out on each visit. But Bran. will also reportedly be able to call his. family. Most prisons have phones in. individual cells. So as long as the. actor has phone credits, he'll be able. to speak to them. And video calls and. emails, they're also said to be. available. But here's an interesting. detail about those visits. So according. to SODOT, physical contact would quote. be very limited because Londonbased. prisons don't allow conjugal visits, meaning no private time behind closed.

doors. But as far as the conditions go, it's not good. According to the Howard. League penal reform, HMP Wsworth is. operating at 163% of its normal. capacity. This is compared to the. national UK average of 107%. A 2024. report by Wansworth's independent. monitoring board actually described. conditions as inhumane, warned of severe. risks due to overcrowding at the prison, including that two men were routinely.

required to share single occupancy cells. with some described as cramped, squalid, and featuring broken or missing windows, furniture, and fittings. The report also. claimed that inmates would sometimes go. two or three weeks without a full change. of clothing. That the few showers there. were described as damp and unhygienic. mold frequently coming back again and. again because of poor ventilation. Another concern the report brought up is. violence. During the 2023 2024 reporting. period, there were apparently hundreds. of inmate on inmate assaults as well as.

assaults on staff. There were also 10. deaths with six of them described as. apparently self-inflicted. Over half of. the surveyed inmates also found it easy. to get illegal drugs with over 300 drug. fines and 100 alcohol fines throughout. that year span. The prison also has very. strict rules on how long a prisoner can. be out of their cell. So told Page Six. that inmates, they're only allowed. outside for one hour a day. They spend. the rest of their time inside their cell. due in part to staffing shortages. And. these strict rules also reportedly carry.

into the visitations as well. Firsttime. visitors require fingerprints that are. taken for the security system. Anyone. entering the facility, even kids, they're required to undergo a rubown. search. There's a strict dress code, too. Apparently, visitors risk being. turned away if they wear vests, low cut. tops, high cut shorts or dresses, ripped. jeans. You also can't wear any clothing. with what they consider to be offensive. patterns or slogans and scarves, gloves, watches, sunglasses, hats. They have to. be taken off before entry. The only. exception is for religious head. coverings. But there are, however,

opportunities to at least be productive. within the facility. And I say that. because inmates can reportedly. participate in educational and. vocational training, including. everything from math and English and. computer courses to lessons in. barbering, catering, bicycle repair, gardening, construction, radio. production. Inmates can also attend. training on yoga, mindfulness, parenting. skills, embroidery, choir. Wsworth also. reportedly holds monthly family days to.

allow extra time with their children in. a more relaxed environment. There's also. a homework club where fathers can help. their kids with school work. Bran can. also opt for a prison job with options. including kitchen work, laundry, cleaning, and as far as special. treatment goes. Soda told Page Six the. following quote, "I don't think there. will be any sort of special treatment. officially. Unofficially within the. prison system, there'll be people in. there that have connections and can. accommodate other inmates better than. others. So, there may be additional. privileges in that way, maybe.

unofficially. But his profile and the. nature of in particular the nature of. his convictions could make him. vulnerable to unwanted attention. Let's. just say possibly bullying or threats. The staff would need to assess that and. they would look at whether there can be. any protective arrangements made in. order to ensure that no harm was to come. to him or any other inmate. And Sodo. told the outlet that if he had any. advice for Brand, it would be keep your. head down, keep your wits about you, and. just be careful. Real quick, this is a.

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conditions apply. See the description or. visit rumble.com/promo. official rules for details. If there's. any new details about Bran's life in. prison, we'll plan on bringing them to. you here on Sidebar. And I want to talk. about that in a little bit with Justin. Bernie. But I want to talk about the. other update. I want to talk about this. other development. Okay. So on Monday, following Bran's sentence, TV producer. Jamaima Goldsmith took to X with some. pretty bombshell allegations against the. disgraced actor and comedian. The pair. apparently dated for roughly a year.

between 2013 and 2014. In the post, Goldsmith wrote in part, quote, "Firstly, and most importantly, I am and. have always been strongly and. unequivocally on the side of all of. Bran's victims. I am in awe of the. courageous women who came forward at. Bran's trial, told their stories, testified, and ensured justice was done. I've had my own personal experience of. his violence, coercive control, and. abuse. I had to call the police to have. him removed from my house in 2014 during. a violent incident. I chose not to press. charges at the time and not to go public.

with this as I was worried about the. impact of the press attention on my then. teenage children. I have neither seen. nor spoken to Bran since that period in. 2014. Whilst my pain in relation to this. pales in comparison to what the women. have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life. which has had a lasting impact. Over. several years, I assisted the. journalists who finally exposed him, Ross Irwin, Louisa Compton, and Dorothy. Burn. I also undertook to testify in.

court to his abusiveness if the. newspaper that published the victim's. accounts were ever to be sued. I have. spent much of my professional career. trying to support unfairly demonized and. silenced women such as Monica Lewinsky. and defending free speech. I am glad and. relieved that Russell Brand has finally. faced justice. Now, in addition to. Goldsmith, a spokesperson for the. Metropolitan Police out in London. confirmed on Tuesday two people that. quote, "Sveral more people had contacted. their investigations team during and.

since Bran's trial to both provide. information and report potential. criminal allegations." The department. spokesperson said that they're assessing. the information as part of their ongoing. inquiries, but that's significant to say. the least. We don't know what will come. from this. But meanwhile, Metropolitan. Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told. the BBC on November 6 that two separate. rape investigations against Russell Bran. from two additional women are still. ongoing. So, as we think about what he's.

currently facing, you have to keep in. mind now that he could potentially face. additional charges, another trial, potentially another conviction, more. time in prison. But again, might be too. early for that. We'll see where it goes. I want to talk about what his life is. like behind bars right now. So, I have. the perfect person to talk about this. I'm joined right now by Justin Pernie, prison consultant, knows the ins and. outs of this and and we were just. talking, Justin, before you came on. You. know, Wsworth, you know this facility,

right? >> Well, we've had several clients in. Europe facing extradition to the United. States and that's where they were. housed. So, I can tell you many people. in America will serve time in these. cushy low security prisons or minimum. security camp. This is a prison built in. the 1850s. It's 175 years old. It was. originally built to hold like 900. people. I think there's nearly 1,500, which means it's old. It's overcrowded. It's dirty. Like, it is not the. Victorian prison that it was supposed to. be. Um, there's a lot of problems there. If there was a prison they should have.

torn down, it's probably this one. >> What are some of those problems? What. have you heard from clients either. preparing to go there or there? >> Just look at the data. Look at the. report that came out in like 22 or 23. about prisoners having to remain in. their cells 22 hours a day. The vermin, the roaches, it's infested, it's dirty, bugs in the food. And when these reports. come out, sometimes people lack sympathy. because they're like, "Hey, you're in. prison. You should have thought about. that before you broke the law. I have no. sympathy for you." It doesn't change if. you're confined. There are.

responsibilities. There are rights for. the prisoners. So, it's old. It's. overcrowded. uh staff, myriad um issues. with mental health, iPhones. Uh my. client told me that it was common. knowledge that drones would come by the. cell in the evenings. You'd hear the. noise to drop off the drugs and the. iPhones and the food. And it's so common. and so rampant. Staff really can't deal. with it. It's just not meant to hold. 1500 people. >> For someone in Russell Bran's position, celebrity, uh and also what he was.

convicted of, if you were advising him, what would you say? say there's some. issues that you need to look out for, some things that could be of concern for. him. >> Don't make matters worse. And some. people say, "How could it be worse? The. guy's in prison for 10 years." There. could be people that challenge him that. want to leave prison and go on. television and sit for an interview. about what it was like to serve time. with him. We saw that with Shawn. Combmes, prisoners taking photos of him. and then selling them to the media. So, if he's challenged, he needs to respond. appropriately, not be concerned about.

his prison reputation or feel the need. to respond in kind. It requires humility. and I would tell him to find a routine. that he could defend because this is. harder on victims and it's as hard it's. hard on his young children. He could. find a life of meaning there. He will be. more isolated in this prison than an. American prison at least right now where. he's going to be confined 22 or 23 hours. a day. So, a lot of the obstacles are. removed. But if I was on the phone with. the lawyers, I'd say your f first job is. to not make matters worse. >> And how does he do that? If he's.

challenged or he's confronted, um, what. does he do? >> He has to identify his values. His. highest value is his family, not getting. hurt, recognizing he may be challenged, and he may just simply have to respond. and walk away. He has to understand he's. in a new environment where men have. lived for weeks, months, decades, and. years. And they may want to make an. example out of him. So, he shouldn't. complain about the length of his. sentence. He shouldn't make jokes. He. shouldn't mock other prisoners. he. shouldn't con talk about that he's a.

victim. And if anyone here has been. harmed, it's him. That's a really. off-putting message to prisoners. So the. less he speaks, the more he studies, and. the more he creates an environment that. he can defend, the easier it's going to. be for prisoners to say, "Okay, he's not. a showoff. He's doing his job. He's not. paying for services. Um, we're going to. move on to somebody else." But it. requires discipline and resolve because. we are enamored by celebrity in this. country and some could be looking to. make an example out of him. >> New York Times did an article on this. about where he would spend, you know,

the totality of this prison sentence. And there was a lawyer they spoke to who. said it's possible he could be moved. from prison to prison based on, you. know, an assessment of um a risk. assessment board would look into this. and you know they go from the highest. security downward and he could actually. you know spend time in multiple. facilities. Um is that possible? Have. you seen that? What are the challenges. of that? Again he shouldn't be given. special treatment but also I think he. represents uh a particular set of issues.

that this board and this system have to. recognize. >> Well, he's in a prison where people have. been sentenced in their pending. sentencing or trial. There's other. cases. So if they're investigating, they're not concerned about his, you. know, living situation or that he's in a. cell 22 hours a day. They're could be. focused on other cases and they may want. him in a prison where it could be. easiest to get him back to court. It's. why some people have been in a detention. center for two, three or four years. pending sentencing or or other cases. So.

he could absolutely be there longer than. most prisoners who get sentenced, go. there for two or three weeks and get. transferred to like a low security. prison. He may be there for a while. I. will tell you once he gets, according to. my client, to the other prison, it will. in many ways feel kind of like. Disneyland because you're you're free. He won't be confined 22 hours a day. You. can walk outside and exercise for more. than an hour. You have much more liberty. inside of that low security prison. So, this is the hardest part of the journey, embracing the sentence, embracing like.

the life of relevance he could lead over. the next seven years. And I have no. doubt he can be productive and help. other prisoners. He has a skill set. many people can learn from him. But if. he doesn't do that, he plays the victim. The old cliche groundhog day is real. The days will feel very, very long. And. when he calls home and complains and. laments, if he does, it's simply going. to be harder on those that love and. support him. >> You talk about long days. If you're in. yourself for up to 22 hours a day, what. are you doing? >> It will test the strongest mind. I know. there's a television in there and I was.

told there's some contraband that. prisoners get that you can put on the. television that allows you to watch. other channels more than you're supposed. to and there's just so many prisoners. there with so little training of staff. it's hard to far out all of this. wrongdoing and contraband some stuff. they just turn the other way from. So. there's television as I understand it. He'll have a phone in his cell. He'll. purchase credits in the commissary. He'll make phone calls to his family on. a recorded line and he should read. deliberately. I understand he's. converted. He's become religious and he.

should find as many people do um faith. and talk about it. But it could test the. strongest person. My business partner. served a year in solitary after he was. convicted in 1987 and he describes going. to the penitentiary with the fences and. barbed wire with just appreciating the. blue sunset because he could walk. around. This is the hardest part of the. journey for him. How does someone. mentally prepare for that? I mean, for. somebody, you know, they talk about, you. know, he had this big YouTube channel, celebrity, he was movies, he's living in. a multi-million dollar mansion. How does.

he go from that to this new reality? How. do you make that adjustment? How long. till your body and your mind maybe. adjust to that new reality? >> It could take It could take a long time. depending on the length of the sentence, he may hold out hope that he's going to. prevail on an appeal and he could be. released at some point. And then if the. reality sets in, he doesn't win the. appeal, then there's a new reality like, wow, I'm going to be here for a while. So, a lot of it depends on the. resilience of the prisoner, adversity.

they've had throughout their life, how. they want to lead for their family, but. there is no way to spin that serving. time in that prison for a crime he. doesn't feel he committed uh is. incredibly difficult. I've had people. say, "I go from a one-bedroom little. apartment in in Hollywood, paying 1,500. bucks a month to a minimum security. camp. It's jarring." Imagine the. mansion, the fans, the the people. lionizing him all around the world to a. confined cell 22 hours a day. It's an. adjustment. And I would just convey to. him, as I said earlier, don't make. matters worse because he is a relative.

young man. It's not a life sentence and. there is life on the other side with. family supporting him. At some point, this will end. He just can't make. matters worse and get into trouble in my. opinion. I think staying busy is a. narrative we've talked about before. Staying busy, staying productive. Talk. about a lot of different jobs you can. have in there. What would you recommend. for somebody like him? Is it to learn a. skill set? Is it a particular job? Is. there some some job that you recommend. over others? What what would you what. would you say.

>> before I answer? But I think if he finds. perspective as well throughout the. journey knowing that people have been in. there for a very long time and endure. endured worse and emerged successfully, he can learn from those prisoners who. have not had any opportunities to the. job. I think um he might not work inside. of this confined institution locked down. 23 hours a day. Once he gets to the. ultimate prison, he should do his job. There'll be opportunities to pay someone. to do his job. But it could be an. orderly scrubbing toilets and showers, delivering food, emptying the trash, working in the warehouse. It could be an.

hour or two hours a day. Some prisoners. work longer because they need the money. Other prisoners who really need to. prepare to come home will work nine or. 10 hours a day just to feel busy. It. helps prison time pass. I've encouraged. him to do his job. And as much as this. upsets people, and I know because I get. comments on my YouTube channel and. elsewhere, there is value that he could. provide to people in prison. There is a. skill set as a musician, as an actor, as. an entertainer, discipline, work ethic. He did it right for a long time. and. there are skills that he could pass on.

to other prisoners who may be releasing. before and after him. So, I'd encourage. him to teach, to write, to share it, and. let this experience somehow become an. asset in time and talk about the good. that came from it rather than, you know, all of the the rats and the 22 hours a. day in a cell and the awful living, sickening environment. He can do that or. he can focus on the good. Would you. recommend somebody who has a lot of. wealth to use that to buy credits or. commissary items for your inmates as a.

as a form of protection or as a way of. friendship? >> It it it happens people in our. community. I mean, hardly a person a day. hires white collar advice and as much as. I advise them not to do it, I say I'm. not your parent. You're going to make. your own decision. So, some do, some. don't. You can really increase how much. you spend. I've heard actually in that. prison you can buy fruits and. vegetables. Unlike a lot of minimum. security camps here in America, the. commissary shopping ain't bad from what. I heard. Uh but certainly prisoners will. do that. My advice before you try to. manipulate the environment with the. prison hustle or phone or drugs or.

commissary paying someone to do your. job, it would make sense that you study. this environment before you manipulate. it because you're moving into a world. where people have lived for a very long. time. But there's no doubt people in our. community are spending $500,000 a month. when the commissary only allows 360. I. just want him to understand the. consequences that could follow if he got. caught and the people will be taking. photographs of him trying to cozy. friendship and favor with him because. they're going to leave, call you or. somebody and say, "Let me tell you what.

it's like serving time with Russell. Brand." It's inevitable. So, he always. needs to be watching and aware of that. >> Let me ask you this. This is more of a. general question as we have so many. conversations about um the horrible. conditions in prison. Is there an. incentive ever to improve those. conditions? Is there an incentive ever. to we need more staffing? We need to. clean up the showers. We need better. food. Or no, because you say they're. serving time for committing crimes. You. don't want a a preferential. You don't.

want a better environment for them. I. mean, but you also talk about the rights. of inmates. Generally speaking, in your. when in your experience, in your career, do you see any effort to actually spend. more additional to spend additional. money to to correct any of these issues. you see? >> Very little. The report from 2024 showed. there were some improvements inside of. this prison, but the filth remains, the. overcrowding remains, and there's only. so much money governments have. So. politicians who are out to get reelected. and talk about public safety, is it.

really in their interest to talk about. building new prisons, spending hundreds. of millions of dollars to repair prison. for people who are, according to people. in the community, in for heinous crimes? People would rather have those resources. go to poverty, homelessness, drug. addiction, right? Work. So they try. It's also very hard, Jesse, to get. people to work in prisons, right? It's. hard to make 60 $70,000 a year to go. through the appropriate training. That's. part of the reason the Bureau of Prisons. in America is having some problems. They.

can't get staff to work there for 70. grand in Oregon where it's very. expensive. At least the Bureau of. Prisons has closed some prison and at. least they've repaired some prisons like. Oakdale and Louisiana. They've made it. better and closed it. There's very. little incentive to fix it. They just. don't want to spend the money. And you. can very easily hear a politician say if. they were so concerned about living in a. cage 22 hours a day, they wouldn't have. done this or that or that. It's a. consequence they'll say of breaking the. law. Most people just don't care. >> When you hear about overcrowding, is.

that because people are committing more. crimes and they're not they don't have. the capacity for it? I mean, is that a. stupid is is that a stupid question? >> If you were to look at when this prison. was built in 1851, 175 years ago, how. many laws existed then versus how many. laws exist now? My goodness. It's sort. of like when I drive on the four or five. freeway to Los Angeles and there's. traffic. They didn't build the freeway. for this many cars. Okay, they weren't. prepared for this. More laws, more. people breaking the law, not appropriate. training. They reaffend on probation. They go back to prison. It's a cycle of.

in and out of, you know, multigenerational recidivism. So, there's more laws. We punish more. people. And the prison business is a. billion-dollar industry. We're hiring. people. There's there's judges, there's. case managers, there's counselors. I'm a. part of that industry. So we just. continue to lock up more people. The. problem is I don't think there's enough. training on values and goals and helping. them prepare for what can be the hardest. part coming home. You can't just give. someone a job if they don't seem find. value in work. So there should be more. reentry programs. The problem with that.

is you have unions that would rather. hire more prison guards under security. They don't want to allocate money to. education. So it's a problem that. continues to get worse. >> Justin Mapernie, thank you for coming. on. Um yeah, this is interesting. Uh. it's it's a new reality for him. I. wanted to get your perspective on, you. know, what he might be going through. So, thank you for taking the time. >> Thank you for the opportunity. >> It's all we have for you right now here. on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much. for joining us. I'm Jesse [music] Weber. I'll speak to you next time.