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Comedian Russell Brand, a Victim of Swatting, Says He Would Do It If He Were a Teen

Apr 11, 2013  •  Post A Comment

British comedian and actor Russell Brand, a recent victim of the prank known as "swatting," said on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show that if he were a teenager, he would "definitely do it," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Swatting involves calling 911 to falsely claim that a crime is occurring at a celebrity’s house, with the goal of spurring a SWAT team to respond to the star’s house, sometimes surprising the unsuspecting celebrities.

Brand’s recent swatting episode was highlighted in The New York Times, with a piece published Wednesday describing how police approached his home with guns drawn, only to encounter his "shocked and frightened housekeeper, taking out the garbage."

The Times adds, "What once was merely a police annoyance in Southern California — thrill-seeking pranksters filing a false report of a breaking horrific crime at celebrity’s home, designed to provoke the dispatch of SWAT teams — has turned in recent weeks into a full-blown ‘swatting’ epidemic, drawing expressions of concerns from police officials and victims alike, and the promise of a crackdown by lawmakers in Sacramento and at Los Angeles City Hall."

Brand seemed less shaken than his housekeeper by the encounter. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he said he wasn’t at home when the event happened.

"If all swatting attacks are this unnoticeable, I’m ready for war,” Brand joked. “I didn’t even know it had happened. I still don’t know what a swatting attack is!”

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