I mean, it's very much not like that though, right?

We're not talking about a harmless tweet that's now deemed a racist micro aggression or a comment about biological fact that's suddenly transphobic, we're talking about rape and sexual assault.

True, there was a point where societal standards on these things were different, but I don't think we're the ones who have that wrong. Or that there's anything wrong with viewing a rape from ten years ago by today's standards.

As for whether it takes 15+ years, yes, sometimes it does. This is a function of how difficult it is for women to be taken seriously and of how much ppower/influence wealthy men have. Particularly in show business. It's not even easy for an accuser to get their story in the press if the accused is rich enough, because most papers are afraid of defamation lawsuits.

Documentary makers, similarly, have to spend a lot of time protecting themselves from liability. And that's aside from the usual hoops you have to jump through to make a controversial documentary.

Then there's the fact that, for many reasons, accusers often don't come forward straight away. And even when there's concrete evidence, as with the woman who was at a rape crisis centre the same day as she claims Brand raped her, the legal system moves really slowly in cases like these.

So yes, the conspiracy theorists will always question the "timing" I've responded to a bunch of similar comments her and on Substack. But the reason they think their questions are even slightly meaningful is because they haven't bothered to think even slightly seriously. They're just pursing an intrigue that they already want to believe.

To be fair, this is the foundation of all conspiracy theories.