No, I haven't changed my tune.
It's worth explaining because a lot of people commenting on the Russell Brand case don't understand how defamation law works in Britain. (I didn't either until we started Triggernometry and then a media lawyer who was a fan of the show wrote in and explained how careful you have to be 🙈)
So, in very oversimplified terms:
If you publicly make a claim about another person, that person can sue you for defamation and you will reliably lose and have to pay them huge damages, as well as their legal costs and your own, unless you can prove that your claim is true. Large media organisations like major newspapers will sometimes risk publishing claims they believe to be true on the basis that a story is in the public interest and an honest opinion but they regularly lose defamation cases and pay out millions in lost and settled cases.
So, when I say that Russell Brand being a rapist was an "open secret" on the British comedy circuit - that is a fact that is perfectly compatible with the fact that people didn't say anything about it in public. From memory, some tried and were threatened or even sued into submission.
So, when I tweeted in 2023 that the letter is wrong even though "I don't know whether Russell Brand is innocent or guilty", I was specifically making clear that I am not making the claim that he is guilty (to avoid being sued for defamation) or innocent (to avoid creating the perception that I think he is innocent when I knew he wasn't).
What I was saying is that irrespective of his guilt (which I can't prove in court under risk of being sued into bankruptcy) or innocence (which I don't believe in), I nonetheless think the letter which my tweet was about was atrocious.
Far from changing my tune, I've been entirely consistent throughout. What's more, dozens of people you know, like and respect were warned about Brand by me and others, long before his ridiculous fake "conversion", move to the Right etc. Many of them listened, some did not.
What is happening here is that a lot of people fell for Brand's undeniable charisma, forgetting that he was until very recently a Guardian-promoted revolution-peddling rabble-rouser.
They feel guilty for having fallen for his schtick and would rather tell themselves he's innocent than accept the unpleasant reality.
It doesn't really matter either way. He's going to prison for a long time for the crimes he committed. I hope that brings a measure of peace to his victims and gives him an opportunity to genuinely repent and atone.
P.S. There are other British celebrities who will be outed for sex crimes in due course (one imminently).
