Russell Brand says Newsnight presenter Evan Davis is 'insidious and rude'

British comedian and activist Russell Brand has criticised Newsnight presenter Evan Davis as "insidious" and "rude" following widespread media vilification of the star's recent BBC appearance.

Responding to a question on his YouTube series The Trews about which Newsnight presenter he preferred, Brand said he liked Jeremy Paxman "on a personal level" because he'd grown up watching him "rip up politicians".

But Evan Davis, who took over from Paxman this autumn, has an "insidious" questioning style, Brand said, and had been "mean" and "a bit rude" to Stephen Fry in an interview once.

The remarks are made at 3:40 in this video:

Brand insisted he appeared on Newsnight trying to promote "locally organised activism" and an "ideology of change" but attacked the "subsequent reporting" which focussed on his response to a question about 9/11.

Evan Davis had asked whether Brand believed the Bush family had been involved in 9/11 but Brand's response - "I don't want to talk about daft conspiracy theories" - was interpreted as a refusal to distance himself from those same conspiracy theories.

“I think it is interesting at this time when we have so little trust in our political figures, where ordinary people have so little trust in their media, we have to remain open-minded to any kind of possibility,” he said.

Brand's Newsnight appearance can be watched in full here: