17. When Russell Brand Got Kicked Out of an Awards Ceremony for Cracking Jokes About This Fashion Brand’s Nazi Ties
In 2013, British comedian Russell Brand was kicked out of a GQ Magazine’s Men of the Year Awards black-tie affair: he cracked jokes about the event’s sponsor, Hugo Boss, and its Nazi ties. As Brand put it: “If anyone knows a bit about history and fashion, you know it was Hugo Boss, who made uniforms for the Nazis. …But they looked [effing] fantastic, let’s face it, while they were killing people on the basis of their religion and sexuality“.
Unsurprisingly, Hugo Boss’ executives were not thrilled that all they got for the £250,000 spent to sponsor the event was another dose of bad publicity about their company’s past. Whether Russell Brand’s humor was in good taste or bad, he was not wrong about the fashion designer’s Nazi ties. Today, Hugo Boss is a global luxury fashion brand, famous for its flashy ties and classic suits, with about 1100 company-owned stores worldwide as of 2021. It would not have happened without a helping hand from history’s most evil regime.
