08/09/2008 WIRE: British comedian Russell Brand hosts the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles September 7, 2008. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni (UNITED STATES) Pic. Reuters
This has been definitely been the news highlight of the awards which has been mostly panned by alot of blogs and newsites. The Britney awards are really weird. Anway this guy will get some much press expect an American talk show soon. Read below:
If his aim was to be noticed by America, Russell Brand more than achieved his goal last night as he ranted that President Bush was a “retarded cowboy” while hosting the MTV awards.
The British comedian, who is a virtual unknown in America, left the crème of the music world stunned as he championed Barack Obama, ran down George Bush and made lewd jokes about the Christian pop band Jonas Brothers.
Ignoring the renowned patriotism of Americans, Brand told the Hollywood audience they must vote for Barrack Obama “on behalf of the world”, before insinuating that America had lower standards than Britain when it came to picking leaders.
Some people, I think they’re called racists, say America is not ready for a black president.
“But I know America to be a forward thinking country because otherwise why would you have let that retard and cowboy fella be president for eight years?
“We were very impressed. We thought it was nice of you to let him have a go, because, in England, he wouldn’t be trusted with a pair of scissors.”
Members of the studio audience, including Britney Spears, who was making a much-hyped comeback appearance, and Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, looked horrified at Brand’s jokes.
American Idol winner turned chart-topper Jordin Sparks was so incensed by a joke about Christian band Jonas Brothers that she launched her own tirade at the host.
The teenage singer, who wears a ring symbolising her belief in abstaining from sex until marriage, snapped at Brand: “I just want to say, it’s not bad to wear a promise ring because not every guy and girl wants to be a slut, OK?”
Brand, a self-confessed sex addict known for his huge hair and boundary-pushing act, apologised for the crack but later went on to make another bawdy joke.
Yet to really break America, despite a role in spring rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Brand was considered an odd choice for host, a role previously filled by A-listers including Jack Black and P Diddy.
Acknowledging the criticism, Brand joked about his lack of fame in the US: “My persona doesn’t really work without fame. Without fame, this haircut could be mistaken for mental illness.”
Today, his name is much better known. While the event was hyped as the platform for Spears’ return, Brand almost overshadowed the pop singer in the post-awards press coverage.
The LA Times wrote: “The 2008 VMAs were poised to mark the return of Britney Spears. Instead, they will go down in history as the night when that English guy from Forgetting Sarah Marshall almost made the Jonas Brothers cry.”
The New York Times were appreciative of Brand’s turn, saying the “manic, intelligent English comedian, injected the show with politics (pro-Barack Obama), raunch and philosophical musings.”
But others were less charitable. The Chicago Tribune wrote that “Nobody quite knew what to make of the opening monologue of wild-haired host Russell Brand”, while MTV’s online message boards were besieged by confused and outraged Americans.
One message read: “Why is it that Brits think the rest of the world doesn’t get their humour? The myth is a tired excuse for lack of humour.”
Another said: “Russell WHO? I didn’t realise this show was an Osama (sic) campaign rally. This British nobody looks like he was pulled from the ranks of the homeless – with his unshaved look, rats’ nest hair-do and foul mouth.”
STREET KNOWLEDGE 
These fucking English bastards are destroying he world we live in.
What is the point of having these nuclear bombs if we don’t use them on ass holes like that nigger Englishman
How dare he call me racist that conniving cunt he surly supports those Muslims who seek to destroy us
I’m a Proud Englishman and you can take the piss out of our queen as much as you want. It’s practically a crime not to take piss out of our P.M so go ahead… Care a lot.
Oh and russel did dress up as binlarden on the 9/12 he was on drugs
By the way I’m black so any negativity towards what I have said makes racist 😉
ooooh you took the piss out of grammer, your soo intelligent LOL ‘the ill-informed, ignorant and uneducated’ i think those three kinda mean the same thing you weirdo. have you ever thought your own idea’s may be a little ‘ill-informed’ ; ) just in case u havnt moved on with the rest of the world… Laughing My Fat Ass Off
..i wouldnt have trusted bush to look after my dog, come on everyone knows he was pretty dumb and such a hypocrite, sold out shows in Britain wen russel got back by the way, slating his hair saying he looks homeless etc is really thick, dont understand why anyone would make themselves look stupid because russel brand takes the piss outta himself all the time, so that had no effect and he never called america rascist. America took the piss out of Bush long before Britain. Sooo funny the way a lot of americans reacted, omg we would think nothin of what he said, death threats and should be ‘barred’ from american soil, as if !!! If you could barr a person from a country because they said something some people didnt like no-one would be able to book a flight
erm….Thatcher wasnt black she was just the first female priminister. jojo didnt do her homework properly. one of the reasons we never liked Bush was the ‘if you are not with us your against us’ crap, imagine standing there saying that…a direct threat against the whole world when thy were warned it would happen. what? was Bush not privvy to his own mod info at the time, i think that was far far worse than anything bloody Russel Brand could ever say, Thank god there are some american’s who can have a laugh at themselves. Dalton priddy or wotever he’s called…american comics have came here and said things about the queen etc and guess wot-we dont give two shits,and we know our pm’s are crap most of the time, get over yaself u tit. Russel Brand is just a comedian and thats his style of comedy, he never knew america would react like that for christ sake, it wasnt purposly done to get his name known in america, n who the hell gives a crap that britney spears and miley cirus looked ‘shoked’ it actually makes me laugh, surely americans wouldnt think ‘OMG poor Britney’ and like she has any room to talk about anything ever. LOL
That was so funny, the thing about Americans is they can’t laugh at them selfs. I’m Irish and Americans are forever making fun of the Irish (we all have red hair, we’re always drunk, we all dress in green, leprechauns rule the land and we live in tiny villages with only a pub in it) and quite frankly I love it. Russell Brand just said what every other country taught about Bush.
Get off, hardly call her Thatcher a women, but ateast you did your sunshine on the old races + Parliament thing (Thumbs up). It seems all your doing is trying to make Britain (ah lets just say england) racist, interesting… o_o How many mosques do you have again? *Google it*
Then you goon to say “we’re sexist not racist,” like its a good thing? Please read this and feel like a massive cock… live well Jojo
They say when fascism comes to America it will look like anti-fascism.
Whether you agree with Brand’s opinions is not important. They’re opinions expressed in a comedic fashion exercising what seems to have been forgotten by all the half-wits here in America…freedom of speech. The ability to disagree transcends the right/wrong argument. Without the ability to stand up on stage and say what Brand said and what others say we would not be any where near as great of a country as we are. Not to say that we’re the greatest, in fact that is a crap shoot because how does one evaluate countries to award them the title of “greatest country in the world”? It’s impossible to do.
Go on SON!!!
Addendumb: to: A free speaker, some of us share different standards when it comes to ethics, morals and judgement, you base yours on Grammar, you should think outside the word, use your imagination like you do your 9/11 conspiracy theory. You may have better grammar than most, but you lose me in your gibberish scenario hypothesis. If you plan on writing a book, go back to fucking creative writing school, and while your there maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about passion. I bet you blame Bush on everything that has gone bad in the world, even the Global Financial crisis, did you ever think maybe it was those Harvard Grads whose bright and intelligent greed put together those creative tools that screwed the ill-informed, ignorant and uneducated. Your about as annal as R. Brand, maybe even more.
To a free speaker, I had know idea that I was being graded for spelllllling and synnnntaxxxx errors here on the internet of all places, what a smart and bright one you are, you must be Yale or Harvard, so perfect in your way with words, America and the world should be pround to have such a fine critic like you monitor the ill-informed, ignorant and uneducated. I guess your support for R.Brand and your ill-informed commentary to meself says it all. Your a pinhead just like him. I best b gone naw
Addendum- I didn’t realize Brand DID dress up as bin Laden. I misread the comment at first. This I will agree is tasteless and inexcusable. That said, this is an example of why knowing ALL the facts is pretty essential. Nevertheless, many of your other comments are without grounds and, to be at all convincing to anyone, should be more than unsubstantiated opinions.
Hey Priddy…You might want to look up some of events in which Bush was involved and some of the information to which he was privy (you may also want to look in a dictionary at how to spell some words such as diarrhea and leftist). There were plenty of indications that there would be an attack on 9/11, however, no actions were taken. But since this is not about 9/11, that can be discussed elsewhere. Secondly, whether you agree with it or not, he had every right to say what he wanted on that stage, even if he is British. Let’s try a scenario: people in England disagree with the way things are run, but being obedient citizens who do not speak up when they believe there is a problem, they do nothing. The end. Good story, but not as good as the one about the people who disagreed and did something about it, founding a new country based on different principles. I am sure those people, though, had some nasty things to say about the royalty in charge…shame on them. What terrible people that built up a great and prosperous country, which is now falling apart after eight years of George Bush. Yet you ignorantly (and uneducatedly based on the way you type) state that respect is more important than being able to speak your mind. The respect that you learned is not evident in the disrespectful things you have said. Is it only because they are not about the President that these comments are condoned? Now I am from America, and am proud of our country, but Peter is correct, unfortunately: most other countries have laughed at us for the last eight years. I think it might be time that you go back to finish your education so that you may make a better, more well-informed argument about your opinions. And if you feel so inclined, try doing it respectfully, and practice what you preach.
PS- I highly doubt that Brand dressed up as Osama bin Laden the day after 9/11. It is very easy to make such provincial comments when you are ill-informed. It also makes you seem much more rational to yourself than you really are. Ignorance is bliss, but it does not make your irrational statements any more sensible to anyone more educated than you.
Well Peter the Englishman, regarding Russell Brand and his diarrea mouth on the MTV-VMA Awards Freak Show, there is a difference between humor and stupidity that leans on the edge of wicked- morbid and evil. I’m all for free speech – I’m very proud to live in the country that created a constitution that guaranteed its people that freedom. I was also taught about respect. Freedom comes with a responsibility and a price. First you don’t insult people to fatten your ratings or your bank account, like so many in the entertainment industry do. Now back to you, I never mentioned that it was a crime to speak out, I was exercising my right to free speech. Since your a leftest, who is hell bent on degrading the moral values of the western world by siding with a freak such as Mr Brand who insulted my country and those who died on 9/11 by dressing up as Bin Ladin the day after the terrorist attacks…you sir can kiss my USA ass, I’ll take Bush any day over you and that ruthless piece of trash Russell Brand anyday. Bush understands the global Islamic Jihad threat that is destroying the U.K. and other countries. Maybe you should dress up in your sheets like Brand did the day after 9/11 and start a band and call your self “THE ASSHOLES”. It’s people like you you don’t see the big picture that scars me most. Wake up…the hour is getting late.
Wake up America. Russell Brand did not say a thing that the rest of the world has not been laughing about for the past 8 years. Dalton Priddy needs to know that in the UK we have the freedom to say in public what we think about the queen and her family and if Dalton wants to make inappropriate comic remarks about them (or any politician for that matter), that’s OK, you have the right! When Americans poke fun at America or show it up in anything other that a favorable light (Michael Moore et al) that’s OK but anyone outide of the USA does it and it’s a crime. Why does this not surprise me?
I hope MTV gave Russell Brand big money to host the MTV – VMA Freak Show Circus. I wonder what the people of the UK would say if an American comic bashed the Queen or PM. and then insulted there best clean Teeny Boop Band?. Know wonder the music business is in the hole, look at the crap that the sick and demented record companies are promoting at the risk of our own kids, who dress like the rappers, talk like them, disrespect people like them. It blows my mind that the same music people that want to end wars, poverty and heal all the ills of the world appear on the same stage and shows with the rappers, rockers and comedians who in there own sick and screwed up mind restrain the development of intelligence and human consciousness. Russell Brand is now a high paid diarrea mouth of MTV, the perfect image of out of touch, out of mind and out of line entertainment that is destroying the very fabric of what “We the People” stand for. To all you so called entertainers who stand on The Stage of Disgrace, may you listen to your own rap through-out eternity.
This freak of nature is the same scum who dressed up as Osama Bin Ladin on Sept,12 2001, the day after the terrorest attack in NYC.
I think Brand is simply saying what the rest of world would love to say to the american public..good on him!
Big brouhaha over nothing. South Park have been doing this for years. It’s called satirical comedy. Plus, the fact that Bush has driven America to ground since entering office – politically, economically, and socially – makes it all the more poignant.
I feel sorry for everyone who doesn’t understand this humour and for everyone who ever voted for George W. Bush. The consumerist, ignorant, patriotic and the biggest polluters in the world -the Americans- are going down yet they don’t see it, they still belive they are a ‘great country’….but the rest of the world does see it and that’s what makes them laughable…. and if Mc Cain wins then the Americans will indeed reasure many people that the last votes were true and honest and the USA will indeed be presented to the world as a country full of retards.
Oh, God may bless America, cause no one else will be able to save you then!
Well said Jojo.
Russell Brand is a prime example of what happens when society is dumbed down, resulting in incompetent spokesmen pandering to its lowest common denominator. Russell Brand proves that gratuitous shock value, Irreverence and cheap shots are poor substitutes for real talent. At low points in history, inferior elements often gain the ear of malcontents, enabling those like the far left, and it’s shallow clique of celebrities to gain the attention of mindless lemmings who will blindly follow their counterparts like a stampeding herd, thugs in a lynch mob, or lost souls who worship a golden calf. Since these types have no real substance, luckily their existence is usually short lived.
I think it’s hilarious. People need to LIGHTEN up, GEEZ! It’s called comedy, I mean REALLY! Funny how Americans get so serious when it’s someone making fun of them/us. But it’s perfectly alright for Americans to do things like change the name of french fries and french toast in the name of patriotism and an open hate for the French.
Seriously folks, pull the broom out of your arse.
“plenty a tards out there livin’ awesome lives. my ex-wife’s a tard. she’s a pilot now.”
All I can say about Russell Brand is that it takes one to know one. Why doesn’t he go home. We should band him from US soil. Shame on anyone who sponsors this kind of crap.
Funny how comedians from the UK always call America racist. The first black congressman in the USA took office in 1868; the first “black” (actually Asian Indian, but the British refer to him as black) parliament member in the UK took office in 1892. In the USA, the first black female was elected in 1968; in the UK, the first black female was elected in 1987. The first black cabinet member in the USA was appointed in 1966; the first black cabinet member in the UK was appointed in 2002. The first female cabinet member in the USA was appointed in 1977; the first black female cabinet member in the UK was appointed in 2003.
I’ll give the UK credit that they have been ahead of the USA when it comes to electing women to office. However, the USA has been at least a generation ahead of the UK when it comes to non-whites in politics. So shouldn’t comedians in the UK start calling themselves out as racist before pointing at the USA. Goshdarnit, we are sexist not racist…just look at our press’s reaction to Palin!