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Comedian turned commentator Russell Brand has weighed in on the ongoing wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, flouting conspiracy theories in his usual fast-paced, flamboyant style which are so outlandish, that he’s being compared to GB News anti-vaxxer Neil Oliver. Brand, who’s switched appearances on comedy films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek for his Stay Free podcast in recent years, uploaded a video to his six million subscriber strong YouTube channel on Thursday with the title, “Something Doesn’t Seem Right”. As the baseless conspiracy theory that the devastating crisis on the US island was not aided by climate change but rather a ‘space laser’ continue to spread online, Brand jumped in and dismissed those rightly questioning such a nonsensical argument. “Now, some people would say, ‘Oh, that’s dangerous misinformation – that should be shut down.’ I think the opposite. “Discuss it, look at it, investigate it. Either it’s true or it’s not true, we can decide for ourselves, let’s not get excited,” he says. We have, Russell – that’s kind of what journalists do for a job… Towards the end of the almost 23-minute-long video, Brand turns to the conspiracy that the fires in Hawaii were “started deliberately to benefit rich elites” such as the investment management company and financial services provider BlackRock. He continues: “Now look at the Ukraine war. Ukraine have already done a deal with BlackRock to rebuild their nation using BlackRock investment. “If you apply that mentality to this situation, if BlackRock end up benefitting from the fires in Hawaii, then the conspiracy is almost a redundant detail. Did they start it? Didn’t they start it? “Is it inevitable that the suffering of ordinary people leads to the benefit of rich elites and massive organisations like BlackRock and billionaires across the globe and why is Bill Gates buying all this agricultural land when he’s not a farmer?” Yes, that’s one whole sentence. “Doesn’t it all feel like a kind of macro-conspiracy that’s so diffuse, institutional, oddly abstracted and bureaucratically opaque, that sometimes you just want to simplify it into ‘they started this fire! They started it with a laser from space!’ “And whether it’s true or not, it not only feels true, in terms of its results it is kind of true. There is a conspiracy to keep you poor and benefit rich elites,” he vented, adding that the “next time there’s a pandemic” the elite are “gonna control you more”. In other news, thesauruses are in short supply around the world. And it’s Brand’s ranting about a shadowy elite and government control during a pandemic which has likely led to social media users on Twitter/X branding Brand (ha) a “frappucino Neil Oliver”, the GB News host who has long peddled conspiracy theories about vaccines and an impending “one-world government”. Back in August 2021 he said he’d happily catch Covid – y’know, an actually deadly virus – “for the sake of freedom”, just so you know the kind of dangerous nonsense we’re dealing with here. Others, however, have pointed out to user Matthew Dimitri – who shared a clip of Brand on X – that Brand was actually making an argument about elites and organisations benefitting from natural disasters like the one in Hawaii, and that Dimitri has “misrepresented” Brand: Except instead of rejecting the laser conspiracy theory outright, remember, Brand said he ‘thinks the opposite’ and that instead we should “discuss it, look at it [and] investigate it”, which isn’t a complete dismissal of the idea. He doesn’t really give a definitive answer on whether the claim is true or not, but rather suggests that the result of the whole ‘is it or isn’t it’ debate is more important, as if it’s part of a broader conspiracy or distraction “to keep you poor and benefit rich elites”. Perhaps a far more compelling argument around all this is that Brand should learn to keep things succinct, for the benefit of everyone... Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Chris Kamara has shared a heartwarming photo of himself with Ben Shephard following his emotional Good Morning Britain interview where he opened up about living speech apraxia. The former footballer was on the show to discuss his upcoming memoir My Unbelievable Life and his current health condition. Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a neurological disorder and it affects where natural motor functions in the body, causing problems with talking. At one point during the interview, Shephard could be seen giving Kamara a warm hug as the 65-year-old couldn't hold back the tear when discussing how it "doesn't define who you are." Following the interview, Kamara took to Twitter/X to share a wholesome selfie of himself with Shephard as he thanked everyone for their support. "Big thank you to everyone who sent a message to me today, Sorry I was an emotional wreck on @GMB - Would you believe I really am getting through this & @benshephard as you saw is there for me," he wrote. “My apologies to everybody out there who has got a speech condition, because it doesn’t define who you are,” the former footballer said during the interview. “I get upset talking about it, because I was in denial, I was ashamed that I couldn’t speak.” To which Susanna Reid replied: You've nothing to be ashamed of, honestly, let me just take your hand for a second Chris. Honestly, you've done so much to inspire other people." "Ben [Shephard] was behind me coming out and doing the documentary, talking about it. Once I had spoken about it, you get it off your chest, you realise everyone's behind you... family, friends, all with you... no matter what happens," Kamara said of the support he received from Shephard. Shephard told Kamara: "Chris, it doesn't change how we feel about you, you need to understand that." To which Kamara added: "Can I say a big thanks to you, Ben, because none of this would have happened without your help!" ""I want a hug!" Shephard said before getting up from his chair as the pair shared a warm hug. "Laura can you go to the weather or something please, this is very embarrassing [over getting teary live on air]," Shephard said afterwards. Viewers also took to Twitter/X to share their support for Kamara, calling him a "legend" and "national treasure." How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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