Jo Whiley has shared details of a handwritten message she once received from Russell Brand – saying it makes her “shudder” and that she plans to burn it.
Brand was jailed for 10 years and six weeks on Monday (9 November) after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault against four women. The offences were committed between 2004 and 2009.
Whiley, 61, discussed Brand’s conviction on the Dig It podcast and reflected on one of her own encounters with the comedian and actor.
The Radio 2 DJ said she has a special book signed by celebrities who appeared on her various shows over the years.
“I've got a signature from Russell,” she said. “It’s got the word… He just refers to me as a ‘MILF’ and I feel like I keep looking at the bookshelf. It's like it's burning a hole in my bookshelf at the moment. I'm sitting in the living room like those words are there.”
Speaking to co-host Zoe Ball, Whiley continued: “I'm going to have to tear the page out and burn it. I really am because it just makes me shudder, but that was what you expected, I think, when you met him.”
Whiley added that she was with her teenage daughter, Coco, when she learned the outcome of Brand’s trial last week and the sentencing on Monday.
“It just felt seismic,” she said. “It felt extraordinarily important, and there seems to have been, since then, this lament from women. I've just seen it over and over again, and I cried.
“It's for every woman who's ever been at the hands of somebody who's abused them, whether it's sexual or domestic.”
Brand was found guilty on the four counts following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court and held in custody until Monday’s sentencing.
Handing the sentence down, Mr Justice Bennathan described Brand as a “sexual predator” who “told a series of lies”. He also sought to dispel myths about rape that were peddled by the comedian’s defence team during the trial.
“Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no and to demand justice from the criminal courts when sexual predators like you, Russell Brand, act without their consent,” the judge said.
Victim impact statements were also read to the court. "I’ve been in shock and turmoil for weeks,” one said. “I was extremely upset and traumatised. I didn’t have any respect for myself.
"I was thinking I was damaged goods – scared of giving off signals that could be taken the wrong way."
The Times has reported that since the trial, six more women have accused Brand of sexual misconduct.
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