Exclusive: Russell Brand Dropped From Jeremy Corbyn And Len McCluskey's Poetry Book
Russell Brand has been dropped from a book of poetry by Jeremy Corbyn and Len McCluskey, HuffPost UK has learned.
The collection, called Poetry For The Many, is due to be published in November.
According to The Guardian, Brand was among those who had been lined up to contribute to the book.
The Sunday Times and Channel 4′s Dispatches programme reported at the weekend that the comedian and actor has been accused of rape and sexual assault. Brand has strongly denied the allegations.
A spokesman for former Labour leader Corbyn confirmed this morning that the poetry book will now be published by New York-based OR Books without Brand’s contribution.
Other contributors include the actor Maxine Peake, children’s author Michael Rosen, director Ken Loach and former Labour Party official Karie Murphy.
Speaking when the publication of the book was announced, Corbyn said: “This book grew out of regular conversations Len and I hold about poetry: the enjoyment we get from it and the opportunity it provides for escape and inspiration.
“When putting it together, the hardest part was deciding what to leave out.”
“There is a poet in all of us and nobody should ever be afraid of sharing their poetry,” he added.
McCluskey, the former general secretary of the Unite union, said: “It should be mandatory on the national school curriculum to make poetry accessible to every child and student, so that the stigma in working-class communities about it being only for ‘posh people’ or ‘softies’ can gradually be eliminated.”