Celebrity Ian Hislop Russell Brand

Ian Hislop’s magnificent HIGNFY takedown of Russell Brand was both savage and impeccably polite

John Plunkett. Updated November 10th, 2026

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Convicted rapist Russell Brand made just the one appearance on BBC1’s Have I Got News For You, back in 2007 when he was probably somewhere approaching the height of his fame.

He didn’t do anything memorable, apparently, except to ask to go to the bathroom midway through filming.

And we mention it not because of Brand’s bladder control but because of this particular clip of Ian Hislop who was asked about Brand after he appeared on the show.

And it was a simply magnificent takedown that managed to be both brutal and impeccably well mannered at the same time.

Not for the first time, bravo Ian Hislop.

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