The Trews (Russell Brand)

This article is about the web series. For the musical group, see The Trews.
The Trews

The Trews logo featuring Brian the dog
Genre News, Politics, Comedy
Created by Russell Brand
Gareth Roy
Presented by Russell Brand
Opening theme The Rubberbandits
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 311
Production
Producer(s) Gareth Roy
Running time Varies (6-20 minutes)
Broadcast
Original channel The Trews on YouTube
Original airing 27 February 2014

The Trews is a YouTube web series by English comedian, actor and activist Russell Brand, who debuted the show in February 2014. The Trews features Brand offering his take on media as it appears in newspapers, television clips or advertisements, as well as Brand responding to comments from viewers.

The show occasionally features interviews with celebrities, activists or other guests. The series is produced, directed and edited by Gareth Roy,[1][2][3] a producer who has worked on numerous projects with Brand.[4]

In March 2015, the channel surpassed 1 million subscribers.[5] The 300th Trews episode was posted on 16 April 2015.[6]

About

The show's name is a portmanteau of "true" and "news" and debuted on 27 February 2014. With few exceptions a new episode is uploaded each weekday. The show's premise, according to Brand, is to provide "the true news so you don't have to invest any money in buying newspapers that charge you for the privilege of keeping your consciousness imprisoned in a tiny box of ignorance and lies."[7]

The series initially began with a focus on the content of Britain's daily tabloids, but quickly expanded to international events and global media coverage. The unscripted episodes typically feature Brand as he watches "video clips from various news outlets and pauses them to analyze the hidden agendas, often based in racial or class prejudices, and break down the truth of each issue based on scientific and factual information."[8] His guests on the show have included economists, activists, journalists and entertainers. He also regularly presents "comments edition" episodes, in which he responds to viewer feedback.

Brand's status as a comedian doing a show with political commentary has led to comparisons to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, though Brand's approach is more "low-key."[8] The series is typically filmed in a casual style at Brand's house in the Shoreditch district in the East End of London[9] or in the car with Brand. According to journalist Kristian Markus, the format establishes "an intimate connection with his viewers, portraying himself not as some impenetrably pristine star fans are only to admire from a distance, but as a fellow citizen of the world who seeks connection with the people and world outside."[10] A few episodes have been filmed at rallies, where Brand interviews activists about their causes.

A theme song for the show, performed by The Rubberbandits, debuted in April 2014.[11] The show's logo features Brian, a white Alsatian dog,[12] that belongs to Brand's ex-girlfriend, journalist and activist Jemima Khan.[13]

Prevailing themes and messages

Media coverage of Trews

Fox News feud

Brand has frequently analyzed the commentary of the Fox News Channel and criticized its owner Rupert Murdoch, eventually sparking a feud with the network's conservative pundits.[8]

In June 2014, Brand lampooned Jeanine Pirro in response to her appearance on Justice with Judge Jeanine, in which she suggested that ISIS "was trained by U.S. instructors at a secret base in Jordan" and that her solution to defeat ISIS is to "bomb them, bomb them, keep bombing them, bomb them again."[14][15][16]

During Brand's analysis of Pirro's rant on 24 June 2014, he "picked apart"[17] her argument:

Pirro: What should we do? Send in more troops to protect sacrifices already made? Cut a deal with the devil, Iran?

Brand: Iran is not the devil, and referring to them as such is incendiary and provocative. She’s talking about the situation in Iraq, she’s judged Iran to be in league with Satan or even the embodiment of Satan…

Pirro: The ISIS assault, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, signals the beginning of the reverse crusade. They are coming for us. To THEM, WE are the infidels.

Brand: Hold on. They're not (laughs). They're not coming. Also it’s interesting the way she said “to THEM, WE are the infidels” meaning that she regards them as infidels! Which means unclean, disconnected from God. Don't try to counter religious extremism with religious extremism.

Pirro: Americans have shed enough blood there. My resolution? Airstrikes. Bomb them, bomb them, keep bombing them, bomb them again and again!

Brand: Fucking hell Justice Judge Jeanine! Bomb them? She's pointing and everything, "Bomb them!" When they do these bombings, it creates more insurgents. That’s what creates them. Don’t think of them as going down there and destroying stuff. Think of it as like a seed that goes into the ground and grows insurgents out of it.

Pirro: ISIS is a radical religious terrorist organisation.

Brand: So is Fox News. It’s a fanatical terrorist propagandist organisation. This isn't reasonable, is it? The way she’s talking: “Bomb them! Bomb them!” She’s worse. You know when you see those videos of someone with like a (face mask) on and a rifle, going, “(imitates Arabic) Bomb them! Bomb them!” you go "fuckin’ hell, they're a bit heavy" – she’s doing it, she’s just doing it with a city backdrop! She’s the savage. She’s totally espousing savage values.[1]

  1. ^ "Is Fox News More Dangerous Than ISIS?". The Trews. YouTube. 24 June 2014. 

The Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple wrote of the episode, "The Brand video is indeed fun stuff. It's 100 percent derivative fare ... His riff gained a lot of recirculation on the Internet, via Raw Story, the Wrap, The Times of India and several others."[17]

In a July 2014 episode ("Israel-Palestine: Is This A Debate?"), Brand ridiculed Sean Hannity's interview with Palestinian-American Yousef Munayyer, labeled the Fox host "a bully" for his treatment of Munayyer and said Hannity resembled "the Ken doll from Toy Story 3." The episode went viral,[18] and Munayyer quipped that Brand's video received more viewers than Hannity's original interview.[19] Hannity responded on air, showing clips from The Trews and calling Brand a "D-list actor better known for his failed marriage to Katy Perry."[20]

The Trews and Brand's commentary on Fox were discussed on the network multiple times, and there was wide media coverage of the ongoing feud.[21] In late August, panelists on Fox roundtable "The Five" derided Brand's comments on the network's coverage of the ongoing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri. Greg Gutfeld referred to Brand as a "scruff bucket" and a racist, while Brand laughed off the insults and referred to the Fox News presenters as "aliens."[22][3] Gutfeld also called him a "left-wing commie scum" and said “radical Islam is spewing from his homeland, but he’s too much of a coward to actually focus on that.”[23][24]

In October 2014, Brand said he had been scheduled to appear as a guest on Hannity's show, but producers canceled his appearance. He attempted to film an episode of The Trews outside of Fox News headquarters in New York City, but a security guard threatened to arrest him for trespassing.[25][26]

2014 Sydney hostage crisis

Australian news media discussed Brand after the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, which began on 15 December, due to an episode of The Trews titled, "Don't Let Sydney Siege Claim Your Freedom". Using footage of Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, Brand explained in the 16 December episode:

That is the important thing here. Now, at this time, when we're finding out that the CIA used unconscionable torture methods to get information to go into a war that subsequently proved to be illegal and unfounded, gave the state more power as the result of events that may or may not be intrinsically linked to political objectives seems like a dangerous thing to do ... Terrorism is continually used as a tool to control the domestic population.[27]

Yahoo!7 News website described the 212th episode of The Trews as a "crazed siege rant",[28] the online Brisbane Times newspaper published just over two minutes of the episode,[29] and the Nine News website wrote that Brand has "taken aim" at Abbott and targeted Rupert Murdoch.[30] The video was viewed more than 235,000 times in a two-day period.[31]

Episodes

2014 Trews Episodes

2015 Trews Episodes

Episode Title Guest Date

|

224 The Trews VS Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial 1 January 2015
225 What Will Make Politicians Take Notice? 2 January 2015
226 Is Spirituality Still Important? 5 January 2015
227 Who Do Politicians Take Money From? George Monbiot 6 January 2015
228 Is Revolution Inevitable? 7 January 2015
229 The Trews VS Nike World Cup Commercial 8 January 2015
230 How Do I Become A Vegan? 9 January 2015
231 Charlie Hebdo: Whose Fault Is It? 12 January 2015
232 Charlie Hebdo: Does Fox News Terrorise Us? 13 January 2015
233 Bonus Trews: If You're Non-Muslim In Birmingham, Get Out! 13 January 2015
234 Farage & Hannity Together - Is Fox A No-Go Zone? 14 January 2015
235 Tony Blair Not In Jail? I Literally Don't Understand 15 January 2015
236 Is It OK To Bully Bruce Jenner? 16 January 2015
237 Should NHS Nurses Suffer For Politicians' Blood Money? 19 January 2015
238 How Fox Lies Fuel The War On Drugs Johann Hari 20 January 2015
239 Page 3 Is No More - Victory For Feminism? 21 January 2015
240 Cameron / Miliband TV Debate - Political 8 Mile? 22 January 2015
241 American Sniper: Is It Unpatriotic To Oppose Guns? 23 January 2015
242 Greek Revolution Against Corruption - Will We Follow? 26 January 2015
243 Are The Government Fracking Us Over? 27 January 2015
244 Is The Establishment Riddled With Paedophiles? 28 January 2015
245 How MPs Choose Nuclear Armageddon Over Nurses 29 January 2015
246 Katie Hopkins VS Katie Price - Compassion Should Win 30 January 2015
247 Is There A God? YES! Stephen Fry Proves It 2 February 2015
248 Donald Trump For President? The Bald Truth 3 February 2015
249 2015 Super Bowl Commercials - What Do They Want? 4 February 2015
250 Are Refugees Australia’s & Our Collective Responsibility? 5 February 2015
251 Is Beyoncé To Blame For Teenage Pregnancy? 6 February 2015
252 Should Prince Charles (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) condemn young Muslims or his Government's Arms Trade? 9 February 2015
253 Who's F*cking Us Over - HSBC Or Immigrants? 10 February 2015
254 Corrupt Irish Water Robbery - A Greek Revolution Needed? 11 February 2015
255 HSBC Tax Dodgers - Why Are MPs In Bed With Them? 12 February 2015
256 Uma Thurman’s Face: What Should We Think? 13 February 2015
257 Chapel Hill Vs Copenhagen - Which Is Terrorism? 16 February 2015
258 Should Tony Abbott Feel Guilty About Child Abuse Abuse? 17 February 2015
259 The Church Vs Russell Brand's Sex Appeal? 18 February 2015
260 Which Drug is Most Dangerous - Skunk or Sugar? 19 February 2015
261 50 Shades - Has Porn Ruined My Chance of a Happy Marriage? 20 February 2015
262 Why Would Teen Brit Girls Become Jihadi Brides? 23 February 2015
263 Is £5.1bn A High Price To Pay For Football Racism? 24 February 2015
264 Are Benefit Cheats Really The Ones Mugging Us? 25 February 2015
265 Government Spying - Who's The Biggest Threat To Your Security? 26 February 2015
266 Why Are The Oscars So White? 27 February 2015
267 Homeless Man Shot By LAPD - Are Police Deadlier Than Terrorists? 2 March 2015
268 Could I Have Been Jihadi John? 3 March 2015
269 Sex, Softcore & Hardcore Porn - I Respond To Your Questions! 4 March 2015
270 ISIS Vs Climate Change - Which Kills More? 5 March 2015
271 Is Boris Johnson A Bigger Problem Than Jihadi John? 6 March 2015
272 The Colour Of Kim Kardashian's Hair Or Husband - What's Really Important? 9 March 2015
273 Why You Shouldn't Buy The Apple Watch (SPiWatch) 10 March 2015
274 Sack Jeremy Clarkson - Yes Or No? 11 March 2015
275 Are Racist Emails Normal At Work? 12 March 2015
276 Is Lil Wayne A Lil' Ferguson? 13 March 2015
277 Elton John Vs D&G - Are We All “Synthetic Children"? 16 March 2015
278 Ferguson Shootings - Which Ones Are Murder? 17 March 2015
279 Is Capitalism A Religion? 18 March 2015
280 Are David Cameron & The Sun Like Us? 19 March 2015
281 What's The Problem With Comic Relief? 20 March 2015
282 If Politics Is Dead, Is The Election Its Funeral? 23 March 2015
283 Can Starbucks Solve Racism? 24 March 2015
284 Is Rupert Murdoch More Powerful Than Your Vote? 25 March 2015
285 Zayn Malik Quits - One Direction More Important Than The General Election? 26 March 2015
286 Am I Really The 4th Most Influential Thinker? 27 March 2015
287 Am I Mad Enough To Crash A Plane Into A Mountain? 30 March 2015
288 Time To Put The Queen On A Zero Hour Contract? 31 March 2015
289 What Does It Mean To Support The Troops? 1 April 2015
290 What's Better For You? Zero Hours Or Zero Royals? 2 April 2015
291 Good Friday - Should We Crucify Bill O'Reilly? 3 April 2015
292 This Easter - Does Our System Need To Be Resurrected? 6 April 2015
293 How Can We Stop Islamophobia? 7 April 2015
294 Homophobic Pizza: Do We Have To Swallow It? 8 April 2015
295 Adult Colouring Books: Is This The Apocalypse? from Trew Era Cafe 9 April 2015
296 Cameron Vs Brand: Who Should Be On Top? 10 April 2015
297 Bali 9 Executions: What's The Real Drug Problem? 13 April 2015
298 Is ASMR Just Female Porn? 14 April 2015
299 If Voting's Not The Answer, What Is? 15 April 2015
300 Would A President With A Vagina Make A Difference? 16 April 2015
301 Farage Is Dead - Long Live Miliband? 17 April 2015
302 Katie Hopkins Gets Her Dead Immigrants - Happy Now? 20 April 2015
303 Should You Be Paid As Much As Your Boss? 21 April 2015
304 Emperor's New Clothes - Can Things Change? 22 April 2015
305 Robert Downey, Jr.'s Painful Past - Is That News? 23 April 2015
306 Unhappy Britain: Blame Immigration? 24 April 2015
307 Are the Lib Dems the Most Pointless Party? 27 April 2015
308 Farage White Cliff Coast Guard - Should We Vote UKIP? 28 April 2015
309 Milibrand: The Interview Ed Miliband 29 April 2015
310 Green Revolution? Beyond Brighton, It'll Take One. Caroline Lucas and Natalie Bennett 30 April 2015
311 Cameron Is Threatening Your Children - NO JOKE 1 May 2015

Trew Musings

In 2015, Russell Brand hosted a series of live Trews events at a venue called The Proud Archivist in East London.[32] Short sections of these events are sometimes broadcast on the Trews YouTube channel.[33]

Episode Title Guest Date

|

1 Damien Hurst and Context 29 January 2015
2 Ancient Chinese Wisdom 6 February 2015

References

  1. ↑ Russell Brand (14 November 2014). "@rustyrockets: The guys who bring you the trews as KISS as we prepare to do Pied Piper (at) the Albert Hall". Twitter. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "How Do We Stop Corporations Becoming Evil?". The Trews. YouTube. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Who's More Dangerous, Me Or Fox News?". The Trews. YouTube. 28 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Gareth Roy". IMDB. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Russell Brand The Trews (E269)". YouTube. 4 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Brand, Russell (16 April 2015). "Would A President With A Vagina Make A Difference?". The Trews. YouTube. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Russell Brand. "Russell Brand's YouTube Channel: About". YouTube.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Laurie Fanelli (13 October 2014). "Russell Brand's 'The Trews' injects humor into the news". AXS TV. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Simon Hattenstone (11 October 2014). "Russell Brand: ‘I want to address the alienation and despair’". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ Kristian Markus (7 September 2014). "Russell Brand redefines Hollywood celebrity with 'The Trews'". Tech Generation Magazine.
  11. ↑ Russell Brand (29 April 2014). "The new #Trews theme tewn is by @Rubberbandits and has knocked my English socks off.". Twitter.
  12. ↑ Russell Brand. "Russell Brand The Trews (E133)". The Trews. YouTube.
  13. ↑ "Russell Brand And Jemima Khan 'Split Up'". MTV. 21 September 2014.
  14. ↑ Steve Benen (23 June 2014). "When Fox becomes Conspiracy Theory Central". MSNBC. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  15. ↑ Andrew Kaczynski (21 June 2014). "Is This The Craziest Rant A Fox News Host Has Ever Done?". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  16. ↑ Katherine Fung (23 June 2014). "Fox News Host Gets Herself Into The 'Unhinged Rant' Hall Of Fame". Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Erik Wemple (26 June 2014). "Fox News elevates allegation it’s a ‘fanatical terrorist propagandist organization'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  18. ↑ Frances Perraudin (8 August 2014). "Viral Video Chart: Russell Brand takes on Fox News, Hillary Clinton". Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  19. ↑ Yousef Munayyer (2 August 2014). "Ratings for @seanhannity the night I was on? 1.9 million. Views for @rustyrockets video slamming him? 2 million+". Twitter. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  20. ↑ Nick Thompson (4 August 2014). "Russell Brand, Fox's Sean Hannity trade barbs over Israel-Hamas conflict". CNN.
  21. ↑ Leslie Salzillo (29 August 2014). "'Leftist Commie Scum' Russell Brand Hilariously Destroys FOX News In Ongoing Feud (VIDEO)". Daily Kos.
  22. ↑ Greg Gutfeld (27 August 2014). "Gutfeld: Russell Brand is a racist". Fox News Channel.
  23. ↑ Natasha Culzac (26 August 2014). "Russell Brand is 'left-wing commie scum', Fox News says, as fight to the death continues". The Independent. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  24. ↑ Josh Feldman (26 August 2014). "Greg Gutfeld Blows Up at ‘Commie Scum’ Russell Brand for Attacks on Fox". Mediaite. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  25. ↑ Sarah Gray (17 October 2014). "Russell Brand slams Fox News outside of Fox News headquarters, is threatened with arrest". Salon.com.
  26. ↑ Katie Calautti (19 October 2014). "Russell Brand Almost Got Arrested For Filming His Web Series Outside Fox News". MTV.
  27. ↑ "Don't Let Sydney Siege Claim Your Freedom: Russell Brand The Trews (E212)". The Trews. YouTube. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  28. ↑ Melissa Hills (17 December 2014). "Brand targets Abbott in siege rant". Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  29. ↑ "Russell Brand criticises Abbott" (VIDEO UPLOAD). Brisbane Times. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  30. ↑ "Russell Brand takes aim at Tony Abbott over Sydney siege 'terror' comments". Nine News. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  31. ↑ Peter Terlato (18 December 2014). "Comedian Russell Brand Takes Shots At The Media And Politicians For Their Portrayal Of The Gunman In Sydney Siege". Business Insider Australia. Allure Media. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  32. ↑ http://www.theproudarchivist.co.uk/event/russell-brand-presents-trew-musings
  33. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuDgA_NfCnk

External links