Injunctions used by celebrities need to be stopped before it’s too late

It shouldn’t always have to be women who stand up to men (Picture: National News and Pictures / SWN) The bravery of the women who have brought Russell Brand to jail and raised the alleged grooming of David Walliams this week is courage beyond anything I could ever imagine, or will ever likely need. Both investigations took years and, I’m sure, were hit with obstacles that at times felt too big to overcome, requiring nerves of steel that I can’t even comprehend. But it shouldn’t have to require that much bravery to raise concerns against the powerful. And it shouldn’t always have to be women who stand up to men. While Brand and Walliams (who denies grooming and sexual abuse and has not been charged with any offences) are quite rightly being crucified this week, both cases have raised the question of how these men – whose behaviour, alleged in the case of Walliams, was supposedly such an ‘open secret’ in the entertainment industry that it was joked about on national television – got away without investigation for so long. The silence from other men in the industry is distressing, and I for one, refuse to keep quiet in the face of it all. Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and injunctions have been used to silence the voices of women (Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images) We should all be calling these people out for their behaviour. In the case of Walliams and Brand, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and injunctions have been used to silence the voices of women – while the men continued to achieve success in their careers. That is their sole purpose and their sole design. As a journalist, I have signed many an NDA, mainly to protect the embargo of a review or interview. The John Lewis advert, for example, is treated like a secret more important than Area 51. Should I break that NDA, I will face the full force of the company’s press department and I might get blacklisted from ever getting the luxury of seeing its Christmas advert in advance. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video But these NDAs are different – they are frequently used by high-profile people in power, largely men, to cover up the fact they are using extraordinarily intimidating and often illegal methods to sleep with young women and men. And as we’ve seen this past week, it is an unimaginable nightmare that has befallen women. On Tuesday, comedian Lucy Beaumont came forward as a whistleblower on Walliams’ alleged behaviour. She revealed she was first approached by a colleague who had just finished working with Walliams and came to her in the hope she would keep them safe and, even better, might have advice. Beaumont offered to pay this colleague’s legal fees should they wish to pursue a case against Walliams (Picture: Ashley Coombes/Shutterstock for Edinburgh TV Festival) They claimed to have been ordered to bring young women to the Little Britain star’s dressing room. This is at the very least hugely inappropriate, but naturally rang alarm bells. Beaumont offered to pay this colleague’s legal fees should they wish to pursue a case against Walliams, and she said this week she was adamant her television work would disappear as a result. Thankfully, it hasn’t, and instead she’s been rewarded with record book sales and her tour selling more tickets. But another layer of this devastating week is that it has taken heroic women like Lucy Beaumont and Katherine Ryan – who helped take down Russell Brand – to bear the burden of the industry’s secrets. Should NDAs and injunctions be reformed to prevent their misuse in silencing victims? Yes, they need to be strictly regulated.Check No, they serve an important legal purpose as they are.Check Get plugged into the week’s must-watch shows, unmissable moments, and expert reviews with Metro TV Editor Sabrina Barr. There have been male comics, like the late Sean Lock, who have called out Brand and Walliams in the past – but it’s the women who have put their careers on the line to protect the women. And what’s even more concerning is how easily they really could have lost everything because the legal system so clearly works against them. There is something inherently wrong with the complainant of sexual assault becoming powerless to speak the truth of their experience because the system in place works to protect their abusers first and foremost. I can, and must, call out misogyny when I see it (Picture: Focus Pictures, PacificCoastNews.com / Dean Clayton / Avalon) If there is any good that comes out of this, it’s that action is taken to make sure those who are currently trapped by the weight of an NDA get their voices back. Moreover, while the investigations thus far have quite rightly focused on the alleged perpetrators, there has to be further probing into the people who drew up these injunctions and NDAs in the knowledge that they were potentially protecting a predator. The legal teams who have silenced victims, coerced them into dropping their cases and threatened to ruin their lives simply for wanting justice and to prevent others suffering as they have must be examined too. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video As a man, I appreciate I might not be able to relate to some of the cases we’ve heard this week. I don’t know what it’s like to have to keep my guard up whenever I leave the house, interact with someone unfamiliar or feel helpless when once again another man in power is accused of sexual assault and the world keeps turning, unchanged. But I can, and must, call out misogyny when I see it. I like to think I do, but if I’ve learned anything this week, it’s that calling myself an ally and being one are two very different things. I can’t protect the women in my life from all men, but I can do my best to stop abuses of power when I see them, and sound the alarm before another woman has to risk her career to do so. We now know there is at least one other monster out there being protected by the law (Picture: Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) And every man – be it in the media, legal system or any industry – should do the same. At the time of writing, there is another injunction which has led to a blaze of speculation about which unnamed celebrity has gone out of their way to silence more claims. We now know there is at least one other alleged wrongdoer out there being protected by the law, though I have no doubt there are many more. In fact, according to a recent investigation by the Daily Mail, more than 100 applications for injunctions have been made since 2016, suggesting that more well-known public figures could be trying to hide behind the law. There is direct action to be had here: to club together and change the law that is allowing men to abuse their power and women to stay silent. And we can’t rely solely on women to make that change. Men – use your voices. Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. Share your views in the comments below. Arrow MORE: Petition calling for Russell Brand rape conviction to be appealed prompts outrage online Arrow MORE: Matt Lucas seen out for the first time since David Walliams sexual misconduct allegations Arrow MORE: Russell Brand’s ex-housemate claims he ‘pulled woman into bedroom as she tried to flee’ Switched On Get plugged into the week’s must-watch shows, unmissable moments, and expert reviews with Metro TV Editor Sabrina Barr.