Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse – allegations he denies
Comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse in a Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches investigation – allegations he denies.
Four women have made allegations of sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013 while he was at the height of his fame, according to the newspaper.
The Sunday Times reports that others have made a range of accusations about Brand‘s controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
In an overnight video put out on YouTube, Brand denied “very serious criminal allegations” that he said would be made against him by a newspaper and TV company.
In the video, entitled “So, This is Happening”, the comedian denied the claims that he described as “a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks”.
The 48-year-old said he “absolutely refutes” the accusations that “pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream”.
“As I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous,” he said in the clip.
“I don’t mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations.”
He added: “Also, it’s worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack.”
Signing off the clip, he said: “Now, I don’t wanna get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I’m being attacked and plainly they’re working very closely together.
“We are obviously going to look into this matter ’cause it’s very, very serious. In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free.”
Brand promoting his autobiography My Booky Wook in 2009. Pic: AP
What are the details of the allegations?
According to the Sunday Times article, one of Brand’s accusers claims she was 16 and still at school when they began a relationship, having met each other while she was out shopping in central London.
Another woman claims to have been raped by Brand at his Los Angeles home.
The newspaper details claims she was treated at a rape crisis centre on the same day and sent him a text afterwards saying: “When a girl say[s] NO it means no.”
A third woman alleges he sexually assaulted her at his West Hollywood home after the pair met at Alcoholics Anonymous.
And the fourth accuser claims to have been physically and emotionally abused by him.
A female comedian, who has not been named, also recalls being “grabbed” and “bitten” in the face by Brand when they gigged together in the early 2000s.
She likens his alleged behaviour at parties to the character in the 1987 film Predator.
A comedian told the Sunday Times that Brand’s name was regularly circulated in online groups of female comics.
“I know for many, many years that women have been warning each other about Russell,” he told the paper.
On stage in 2012 Pic: AP
Brand due to perform Wembley gig
Brand worked for the BBC and Channel 4 after breaking out with stand-up performances at the Edinburgh Festival in 2000.
He hosted Big Brother spin-off show Big Brother’s Big Mouth on Channel 4 for three years from 2004, before being given slots on both BBC Radio 6 Music and Radio 2.
His time at the BBC ended in scandal in 2008 after he and presenter Jonathan Ross left a series of lewd answer phone messages for Andrew Sachs, claiming Brand had had sex with the actor’s granddaughter.
Brand and Radio 2’s controller quit, while Ross was suspended.
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Following the “Sachsgate scandal”, he moved to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood, where he starred in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek.
The comedian married pop star Katy Perry in 2010, having proposed to her outside the Taj Mahal, but they divorced in 2012.
He later returned to the UK where he met and married Laura Gallacher – the sister of presenter Kirsty Gallacher. They have two children and are expecting a third child.
In recent years, he has re-emerged as a prominent YouTuber. He has used his wide social media following to express conspiracy theories on the coronavirus pandemic, vaccine and the Great Reset.
He is due to perform his Russell Brand Bipolarisation live show at Wembley Park on Saturday. It is not yet clear if the gig is still going ahead.
Brand and Katy Perry married in 2010 before divorcing in 2012
BBC and Channel 4 respond to allegations
In response to the joint investigation, a BBC spokesperson said: “Russell Brand worked for a number of different organisations, of which the BBC was one.
“As is well known, Russell Brand left the BBC after a serious editorial breach in 2008 – as did the then-controller of Radio 2.
“The circumstances of the breach were reviewed in detail at the time. We hope that demonstrates that the BBC takes issues seriously and is prepared to act.
“Indeed, the BBC has, over successive years, evolved its approach to how it manages talent and how it deals with complaints or issues raised.
“We will always listen to people if they come forward with any concerns, on any issue related to any individual working at the BBC, past or present.”
Channel 4 said it was “appalled to learn of these deeply troubling allegations, including behaviour alleged to have taken place on programmes made for Channel 4 between 2004 and 2007”.
The broadcaster added: “We are determined to understand the full nature of what went on. We have carried out extensive document searches and have found no evidence to suggest the alleged incidents were brought to the attention of Channel 4. We will continue to review this in light of any further information we receive, including the accounts of those affected individuals.”
Channel 4 said it would be asking the production company who made the programmes “to investigate these allegations and report their findings properly and satisfactorily to us”.
The government has been temporarily blocked from concluding the Chagos Islands deal by a late-night High Court injunction.
Ministers had been expected to complete a deal that would have seen the UK hand over sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius in the coming hours.
But in an emergency injunction granted early on Thursday, brought against the Foreign Office, Mr Justice Goose allowed “interim relief” to Bertrice Pompe, who had previously taken steps to bring legal action over the deal.
Ms Pompe is a Chagossian woman who sees the deal as a betrayal of their rights.
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The order, granted at 2.25am, states the government may take “no conclusive or legally binding step to conclude its negotiations concerning the possible transfer of the British Indian Ocean Territory, also known as the Chagos Archipelago, to a foreign government or bind itself as to the particular terms of any such transfer”.
A hearing is taking place at the High Court this morning, with crowds gathered in support of the block.
The location of the Chagos Islands
The government insisted this morning the Chagos Islands deal is the “right thing” for the UK.
A spokesperson said: “We do not comment on ongoing legal cases. This deal is the right thing to protect the British people and our national security.”
It was expected that Sir Keir Starmer would attend a virtual ceremony today to formally hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, despite heavy criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK.
The government has argued international legal rulings in favour of Mauritius mean this handover is necessary.
As part of the deal, the UK will lease back a military base on the archipelago for 99 years.
Robert Jenrick, the former justice secretary, told Sky News that the Chagos Islands deal is a “sell-out for British interests”.
He said: “You’re seeing British sovereign territory being given away to an ally of China and billions of pounds of British taxpayers money being spent for the privilege.
“So, if this group can force the government to think twice, then all power to them.”
With this injunction in place, Sir Keir can no longer legally complete the deal.
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Ms Pompe, who filed the application for interim relief, believes the British government is acting with disregard for the human rights of the Chagossian people.
She has argued completion of the deal would amount to a breach of the Human Rights Act and the Equality Act.
Chagossians are the former residents of the Chagos Islands, who were removed from the islands, predominantly to Mauritius, between the mid-1960s and early-1970s.
Those born on the islands and their children hold British nationality, but subsequent generations born outside British territory have no entitlement to it.
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