Suspending Russell Brand’s YouTube earnings is ‘cancel culture,’ says Andrew Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie – but ‘evidence against him is compelling’

Published

2 years ago

September 19, 2023

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Andrew Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie has argued that YouTube suspending earnings from Russell Brand’s channel is “cancel culture”.

Baillie, 38, who had an on-off relationship with Brand in the 2000s, said although she didn’t know all the details of the allegations, some of the evidence is “compelling”.

The actress was at the centre of the so-called “Sachsgate” scandal in 2008, which saw Brand and TV presenter Jonathan Ross leave lewd messages about her on her grandfather’s answering machine, the Fawlty Towers star Sachs.

Speaking to The Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge about her thoughts on the allegations against Brand, Baillie said: “I don’t know what happened there – I don’t know because I wasn’t there. He never did anything like that with me, everything was more than consensual, I promise.

“I’ve seen some of the evidence and I do find it quite compelling to say the least.”

Four women made sexual abuse allegations against the star between 2006 and 2013 as part of an investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Brand, 48, denies any allegations against him. He claimed in a video posted online on Friday night that all his relationships have been “consensual”.

YouTube today said it had suspended adverts on videos by Brand, saying he was “violating our Creator Responsibility policy”, a move Baillie described as “cancel culture”.

Of her experience with the comedian over “Sachsgate”, she said: “Look, Russell made a mistake when he was younger.

“And when he made his amends to me he looked me in the eye, apologised and said he wasn’t working a programme, and as an addict in recovery, I understand what he was going through.

“When he made his amends to me I felt like he took full ownership of that. He looked me in the eye and apologised and he also took me to rehab.”

Baillie had a relationship with Brand in the 2000s, and became embroiled in a scandal after he and fellow radio host Ross left messages about the affair on her grandfather’s answer machine while live on BBC Radio 2.

Brand had bragged to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs about his sexual relationship with Baillie.

Politics

Scammers posed as Australian police to steal crypto, authorities warn

Published

4 hours ago

November 13, 2025

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Scammers posed as Australian police to steal crypto, authorities warn

Cryptocurrency scammers have impersonated Australian police and exploited government infrastructure to pressure victims into handing over their digital assets, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said Thursday.

The AFP said scammers used the local cybercrime reporting tool ReportCyber to submit reports about their targets. At a later time, they contact the victims posing as police and inviting them to check the report on government websites, lending credibility to the scammers.

In one case, the scammers warned the victim that they would be contacted by a representative from a crypto company, who would also provide information to prove their legitimacy. This second caller then attempted to persuade the target to transfer money from their platform wallet to a wallet of their choice.

“Thankfully the target became suspicious and hung up,“ the AFP said.

*ReportCyber, Australia’s cybercrime reporting tool. Source:* *Australian Government*

A game of pretend

AFP Detective Superintendent Marie Andersson said the scammers falsely claimed that an individual had been arrested and the victim identified in an investigation involving a crypto breach. She noted that the scammers’ verification steps often resembled legitimate law-enforcement procedures, making the scheme “highly convincing” to some victims.

Andersson said this was part of a broader trend in scams becoming increasingly sophisticated. She encouraged “Australians to adopt necessary safety measures online” and warned that “if you’re contacted by someone about a ReportCyber report you didn’t lodge or authorise someone to make on your behalf, terminate the call and notify ReportCyber.

“Also bear in mind legitimate law enforcement officials will never request access to your cryptocurrency accounts, wallets, bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases, or any personal information relating to your financial accounts.”

Australia cracks down on crypto crime

In late October, the AFP announced that it had cracked a coded cryptocurrency wallet backup containing 9 million Australian dollars ($5.9 million) — suspected to be the proceeds of a crime.

In late August, Australia’s markets regulator was reported to be expanding its campaign against online scams, having taken down 14,000 since July 2023, with over 3,000 involving cryptocurrency.

In July, authorities in the Australian island state of Tasmania found that the top 15 users of crypto ATMs in the state were all victims of scams, with combined losses of $1.6 million.

Magazine: Crypto scam hub expose stunt goes viral, Kakao detects 70K scam apps: Asia Express