When I Am Maximus won this year’s Grand National, I was gutted.
Gutted because in the hours prior to the equine extravaganza, I’d been reliably tipped that 10/1 shot Monty’s Star was the one to back.
It finished 10th. Even an each-way gamble wouldn’t have paid off. And in the months since, I’ve avoided the tipster with a furlong-length barge pole.
So imagine my surprise when I heard there was a new safe bet in town. A new “wager” that none other than the Culture Secretary sees as a banker: that powerful men in the media are continuing to abuse women who are too petrified to come forward.
Although I doubt you’ll see this pop up on the coupons at Ladbrokes or accumulator slips at Coral.
Lisa Nandy was, of course, discussing the conviction of Russell Brand, the unfunny comedian-turned-convicted rapist. A man whose flamboyant and promiscuous on-screen persona masked the horrors of what was unfolding in his personal life.
There is plenty of blame to go around regarding how Brand was able to carry out his abuses unpunished for so long. Never has the adage “hiding in plain sight” been more pertinent.
But Nandy doesn’t see Brand as an isolated case. “I do not see that much has changed in terms of the way that institutions in the media industry and across public life, including politics, deal with women who very bravely come forward to allege abuse,” she told Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday.
“Hand on heart, I can’t say to you as the culture secretary that this is not happening today. In fact, if I had to wager, I would say it is.”
It’s an unnerving prediction. In fact, it’s actually rather horrifying.
24 hours after Brand’s conviction, the news cycle moved on to allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming of underage girls facing David Walliams. A three-year investigation helmed by The Guardian and ITV alleges that Walliams used his power as a celebrity to prey on girls as young as 15.
The Little Britain star has strenuously denied all wrongdoing. There is also no criminal investigation into Walliams, and it is worth remembering that allegations are not proof of wrongdoing.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- David Walliams ‘manipulated’ and behaved ‘inappropriately’, says woman allegedly groomed by star
- Police forced Russell Brand to leave ex Jemima Goldsmith’s home following ‘violent incident’
- BBC Celebrity Traitors star says she was whistleblower against David Walliams
Walliams told the Guardian: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with. I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret.
“And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely, and it is something that I never did. I am not a sexual predator.
“I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
Nevertheless, the allegations have sent shockwaves through the entertainment world. Former pal and comedy confidant Jonathan Ross said he was “horrified” by the allegations facing Walliams and the crimes of Brand, two men he described as once being “on friendly terms with”.
The allegations facing Walliams, although unproven, are horrendous. The details of the crimes of which Brand was convicted are stomach-turning. But perhaps the most ominous feature from the past week or so is Nandy’s premonition.
The rot was supposed to have stopped over a decade ago when Yewtree, prompted by the abuse perpetrated by Jimmy Savile, led to a series of high-profile convictions of other abusers who quote-unquote hid in plain sight.
Yewtree ended up putting Rolf Harris behind bars over 12 indecent assaults involving four female victims. He was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.
Gary Glitter, AKA Paul Gadd, was convicted in 2015 of attempted rape, indecent assault, and having sex with a girl under 13. He was sentenced to 16 years.
Celebrity publicist Max Clifford was jailed for eight years after being convicted of eight indecent assaults involving girls and women aged 15–19.
And former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis, while acquitted of other charges, was convicted in 2014 of one count of indecent assault relating to a television researcher.
The pursuit of high-profile abusers emigrated Stateside too. Across the Atlantic, the #MeToo movement led to the downfall of other high-profile figures. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Diddy, and R Kelly are a handful of powerful men finally brought to justice.
And despite all of this, we have a culture secretary unable to say that abusive men in the industry no longer exist.
As an entertainment journalist for the best part of the last decade, I fear she’s right.
Open secrets shared among colleagues, fears of offending prized assets, potential damage to junior employees’ career prospects; Yewtree and #MeToo did a lot, and yet their legacies are still unable to change systemic roadblocks.
Social media has become a hotbed for sleuths anticipating the downfall of men they’re convinced have wielded their power criminally. Their day of reckoning is hopefully arriving sooner rather than later.
“X used to hang out with Y; he needs looking at,” a familiar complaint. “Mr Z has been getting away with it for years,” another.
The rot hasn’t stopped. It’s festered.
So if there was ever a time for real action to apprehend the next Mr Brand before another crop of young girls have to live with the subsequent trauma, it’s now.
And who knows? Perhaps this time next year, when Nandy sits down for another interview, she’ll be able to confidently assert that powerful men with no sense of boundaries have been hounded to extinction.
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