Moment Peter Hitchens launches stunning takedown of Russell Brand during live Newsnight appearance after comedian said he was going to kiss him on the lips

This is the moment Peter Hitchens launched a stunning takedown of Russell Brand on live TV after the rapist said he was going to kiss the Daily Mail columnist on the lips. 

The two came to verbal blows in 2012 during a BBC Newsnight discussion about drugs, during which Brand, a former heroin addict, accused Mr Hitchens of homophobia.

At one point during the live TV row, Brand began to 'lose the argument' and said Mr Hitchens was 'prejudiced' before bizarrely going on to call him a 'lovely man'. 

Convicted rapist Brand said: 'I have learned to love you Peter and in a minute I'm going to give you such a kiss on the lips (that) I'm going to challenge a few other of your prejudices.

'Let's get into the homophobia just under the surface there... Peter I think you're a lovely man.'  

Mr Hitchens then launched a stunning takedown on Brand, saying he 'isn't capable' of serious debate before adding that he should not be allowed to work for the taxpayer-funded BBC. 

The Daily Mail columnist calmly put down Brand, asking: 'How does one deal with a person who cannot debate seriously? 

'And why is this person brought before select committees and allowed to make programmes on the BBC?' 

Russell Brand said he was going to kiss Peter Hitchens on the lips during a row on BBC Newsnight in 2012 - but Mr Hitchens launched a stunning takedown on the convicted rapist, saying he 'isn't capable' of serious debate

Brand, visibly embarrassed, then tried to have the last word but was not able to speak over Mr Hitchens. 

The clip has resurfaced after Brand was convicted of rape after a trial at Southwark Crown Court this week. 

A jury found the comedian guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. 

Brand, however, was found not guilty of two counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault. 

Mr Hitchens has now been heaped with praise for his takedown of the sexual predator on live TV. 

One X user said: 'When Hitchens is right, he's really right.'

Another wrote: 'You can tell a lot from how Brand tries to frame potentially objecting to the aggressive invasion of personal space as homophobia.'

A third said: 'The moment...where Hitchens refuses to giggle along on the telly box and just lays bare his sheer contempt is heroic. 

Mr Hitchens has now been heaped with praise online for his takedown of the sexual predator during the 2012 Newsnight row

'You can tell Brand wasn't used to being stood up to like that, hence his petty nastiness.' 

A fourth wrote: 'Peter Hitchens totally called it, saying arguing with him [Brand] was like playing chess with a squirrel. 

'Brand even tried to scrub the footage [because] he looked so bad.'

Meanwhile a fifth said: 'Remembering how thoroughly obnoxious Russell Brand was has made my day even better. Peter Hitchens got this right.'  

After a joint investigation by The Times and Channel 4 first brought allegations against Brand to light, Mr Hitchens wrote for this newspaper saying that 'trying to have a serious argument' with the comedian was 'like playing chess with a squirrel'. 

The columnist said: 'I'll never forget the night Russell Brand offered to kiss me. He had been busy losing an argument about drugs on the BBC Newsnight programme, back in 2012.

'I already knew him of old. During our first encounter, at a London debate on drugs chaired by Emily Maitlis, I had teased him about his silly hat and referred to him as an "alleged comedian" (I think the jury is still out on that).

'I thought that a person who enjoyed mocking others, such as poor Andrew Sachs, might not be used to it himself.

Brand outside Southwark Crown Court, London, where he faced three charges of rape, indecent assault, and three counts of sexual assault, relating to six women

Brand is pictured in May 2008 during a photocall at the second Spike TV Annual Guys Choice Awards in Los Angeles 

'I tried to get him to say if he had been responsible for his own drug-taking. But instead I received a verbal explosion about how I was bigoted, about how The Mail on Sunday was bigoted, about how I 'peddled hatred' and lacked love for other human beings.

'Then there was the usual accusation of racial prejudice. The audience at that debate loved it, and the encounter ended with the unmistakable sound of North London liberals baying for more.

'Now here we were again, debating drugs and the law, this time under the chairmanship of the BBC's Stephanie Flanders. Not that it mattered that he was losing the argument: Mr Brand was the one who had been asked to make a series of programmes on the subject, and I wasn't.

'I was the one who had written and published a critical history of British drug laws since the 1960s, and he had written a volume called My Booky Wook. He was also the one who knew how to rip his shirt (or on this occasion, I think, his jeans).

'Not long before, Mr Brand had been invited to give evidence — cowboy hat, ripped shirt and all — to the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee.'

Mr Hitchens went on to describe Brand as 'not stupid' but 'ill-informed and very bad at arguing'. 

READ MORE: PETER HITCHENS: Trying to have a serious argument with Russell Brand is like playing chess with a squirrel. Why was he given a place in the national debate?