Megyn Kelly called Russell Brand's prison sentence of 10 years and six months for rape and sexual assault "an outrage," saying it confirmed her belief that the case against the British comedian was a "political witch hunt."
"Good lord. Ten and a half years in prison," Kelly said on the Nov. 9 episode of "The Megyn Kelly Show." "He grabbed a boob? He kissed the lady? He sniffed a lady?" she said. Kelly also referenced an anal sex encounter involving one of Brand's accusers. "He is going to prison for ten and a half years for that. This is insane."
During the episode, the conservative commentator played a clip from that day's sentencing hearing in which Judge Joel Bennathan told Brand he had become a "sexual predator as his fame grew."
"He absolutely
had a finger on the scale," Kelly said of Bennathan. "He clearly didn't like Russell and neither does the press." She also criticized news coverage of the verdict and sentence, saying it portrayed Brand in an unfair light.
"If you were to read the articles about Russell's case, his verdict and his sentencing over the past three days, it is clear that they are treating him like he is one of the most prolific sexual predators ever to roam the earth," Kelly said.
On Nov. 5, a jury at London's Southwark Crown Court convicted Brand, 51, of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others between 2004 and 2009. Brand had pleaded not guilty to all seven charges. Jurors acquitted him of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Kelly, who interviewed Brand in April, repeatedly described the sexual assaults as "grabbing boobs, kissing, sniffing."
In questioning the rape conviction, she emphasized that one of the women involved in the case had agreed to vaginal sex with Brand that night. Kelly called the woman's account a "made-up claim" after noting that a prosecutor had read her victim impact statement in court.
What the judge said about Russell Brand's sentence
During the four-week trial, prosecutors said the first offense took place in 1999, when Brand allegedly raped a woman in a hotel room after a show in England. In 2001, he allegedly tried to drag a woman into the men's bathroom cubicle in the MTV Europe offices after she complimented his shirt.
In his sentencing remarks, Bennathan said one of the women, then 21, had agreed to vaginal sex with a condom. Brand removed it without her consent, forced anal sex on her and continued after she twice asked him to stop, the judge said.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Liza Esquibias, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Megyn Kelly calls Russell Brand's 10-year prison sentence 'insane'
