BY ERIC KING
Offensive comedian, Russell Brand, has this time offended Fifi Geldoff-whose father Bob Geldof was the front man of a band called the Bomtown rats- after making an ”inappropriate” comment at a life and soul event- a fundraiser for a focus 12 charity event which specializes in treatment for alcohol and substance misuse. Brand, a recovering heroin addict, claimed ”from what I have experienced, there are lots of people here tonight are on drugs right now. The toilet at the moment is like an avalanche”
Fifi- a 32 year old PR, whose mother- television presenter Paula Yates died of heroine overdose at the age of 41, said ”not much a fan of Russell Brand anymore after his highly offensive inappropriate comments”. Fifa has previously admitted to suffering from depression for 2 decades after her parents broke up, and the death of her mother , Paula reinforced a lot of her depression. Paula Yates was a writer and television presenter, known in particular for her television shows on ‘The Tube’ and ‘Big breakfast’ Considering the event was to help those suffering with treatment misuse, Brand’s comments can be viewed as insensitive, and did not go down well. One can only wonder of he knew Fifi was in the building, though his many critics will emphasize this to be neither here nor there. Some may also have found Brand’s comments to be funny , but it was thoughtless too. The truth is the inevitable fact that there would be people on drugs in a place designed to help people with treatment misuse. The funny side is him being daring enough to make a joke of something serious- an addiction that cost lives daily. It was a reckless thing to say in that kind of environment, but the sort of reckless behavior that will make some people laugh.
However, it would have been a lot more useful if Brand had addressed the matter of drugs from a more serious standpoint, and spoke in a way to encourage people to beat the deadly habit. Instead he inadvertently undermined the seriousness of drug addiction by using the topic for entertainment. But Brand is a comedian, not much a serious person. So those who invited him to give the speech must take responsibility for any shortcoming in Brand’s presentation. The 40 year old multi-millionaire will joke first and reflect on it later.The comments made by Brand with respect to a lot of people being on drugs right there was not intended to offend, it was aimed at being funny, thought it wasn’t funny saying it the way he did.
