In the video, the comedian, who also refers to himself as a thought leader, questioned whether the video is a "feminist masterpiece or porn."
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The 45-year-old also pondered whether women could "achieve equality by aspiring to and replicating the values that have been established by males."
Being the hip-hop expert that he is (who knew?), Russell said that female rappers who embrace their sexuality and are not coy about their desires for sexual gratification are essentially emulating "a template that already exists and was established by males."
"Is it equality if the template has already been established by a formal dominator? The answer is no," he declared.
Acknowledging that it would be "reductive and simplistic" to say that women "celebrating their bodies using an aesthetic that’s conventionally been associated with the male gaze" could not also be doing so as a means of liberation, Russell went on to say that "it’s still the same metric — it’s still the same aesthetic, it’s still the same values, it’s still the same ideals."
"It’s still ultimately a sort of capitalist objectification and commodification of, in this case, the female," he explained.
Immediately, Russell was met with backlash for criticizing Cardi B and Megan, and he was accused of "mansplaining" their video:
Congratulations to Russell Brand for mansplaining to women how they should enjoy WAP & their own sexuality.
Deborah Frances-White, a comedian, said that Russell was the last person she wanted to educate her about feminism:
I really don’t want to be taught feminism by Russell Brand. But I look forward to Louis CK’s thoughts on why Beyoncé is getting it all wrong. https://t.co/is7aPEiyhZ
This Twitter user said that Russell is "a white cis man" who is likely "unable to [empathize] with the experiences of women":
Imagine thinking ur so woke and being this dumb. The end of the day Russell you are a white cis man unable to empathise with the experiences of women and ur option matters very little to this bigger conversation. You’re being ignorant AND whoreohobic AND no one asked https://t.co/MPF7Q4vshM
Kate Lister, a university lecturer, pointed out how Russell's analysis was flawed, specifically because it underlines the premise that sex and pornography are exclusively for the enjoyment of men:
The problem with this “women have been tricked into sexualising themselves because that’s what men want” argument is the underlining premise that sex & pornography are exclusively for men & women couldn’t possibly enjoy that like they do - they must have made a mistake. https://t.co/byeb2eRsOm
Personally, this response was my favorite:
Men do this thing where they put big words together and think they've said something groundbreaking. https://t.co/BYlqA6t5kE
Others brought up Russell's own history with women:
This man divorced Katy Perry through a text message half an hour before she was supposed to do a show, he’s the last one to speak on how women should be treated https://t.co/z3xxME3EiP
And his career in general:
not russell brand building his entire career on being a shagger and thej turning around to say “THAT’S ONLY OKAY WHEN I DO IT” https://t.co/PdR5kjIxZi
The irony was astounding:
So Russell wants to be taken seriously when he makes a video with his tits out, but the same doesn’t go for Meg and Cardi because...? https://t.co/WUwIse1FSO
Truly, some great points were made:
The fact Russell Brand thinks women displaying sexuality is them emulating men, rather than seeing them as equally sexual beings really summarises the problem with this take imo https://t.co/g96LEss64e
Mostly, though, people just wanted to know who asked for this "analysis":
Where did we ask??? https://t.co/do6zHnQQWZ