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American business magnate Elon Musk was slammed online for lending support to English comedian Russell Brand after he denied some serious allegations against himself. On September 16, media outlet The Sunday Times published a report citing allegations ranging between 2006 and 2013, which came to light as a result of a joint investigation with Channel 4 Dispatches.
The documentary Dispatches, which aired on Saturday night, included interviews with five alleged victims— four of them were nameless. The allegations range from alleged r*pe, s*xual assault, and emotional abuse. Hours after the allegations came into the limelight, the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star broke his silence and vehemently denied these allegations in an almost three-minute video shared on his X handle.
In the video, the 48-year-old personality "absolutely refuted" the allegations made in a letter and email given to him by two media sites, claiming that they were a "coordinated attack" aimed at controlling his voice. Soon after Russell Brand shared the video, Elon Musk came to his defense and voiced his opinion, saying:
"Of course. They don’t like competition."
In the tweet, Musk was referring to Russell Brand who routinely challenges mainstream media through his prominent YouTube channel. But Musk's support to Brand was not liked by many, as one of the netizens commented:
X users react to Elon Musk supporting Russell Brand amidst criminal allegations against him
After Elon Musk's tweet supporting Russell Brand went viral, X users were furious. Several users slammed the CEO of Tesla for supporting the comic's vehement denial of the allegations even though four women came forward and alleged about them. Others warned him on his stance and said that his post would not age well with time if Russell Brand is found guilty.
While defending himself against these allegations, Brand said in a statement:
"It's been clear to me, or at least it feels to me, that there is this serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices - and I mean my voice along with your voice. I don't mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous, consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations."
Elon Musk and Russell Brand have both faced similar media criticism for being labeled as conspiracy theorists. In the past, the Telsa CEO has openly supported a variety of conspiracy theories, including the well-publicized Hunter Biden laptop drama.
