What are the allegations against Russell Brand?

Published

2 years ago

September 17, 2023

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The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches published their joint investigation on Saturday accusing Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault and abuse.

Four women alleged Brand assaulted them between 2006 and 2013.

This period marks the height of Brand’s fame – he was a presenter for the BBC and Channel 4 before becoming a high-profile Hollywood star.

The comedian vehemently denied “very serious criminal allegations” in a YouTube video on Friday night, claiming his relationships were “always consensual”.

Here are the allegations against him in full.

Warning: This article contains details of a graphic nature that readers may find distressing

‘Grooming and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old’

Alice – not her real name – alleged she had a sexual relationship with Brand aged just 16 and that he sexually assaulted her.

Brand, who was 30 at the time, sent cars to Alice’s school to collect her from lessons so they could have sex at his home, she said.

He became increasingly controlling during the relationship, Alice said, and encouraged her to lie to family and friends about the relationship, even instructing her to save his number under the name “Carly” to avoid suspicion. She says Brand’s management also told him to keep their relationship private.

She also alleged that he removed a condom during sex without her knowledge.

“Russell engaged in the behaviours of a groomer, looking back, but I didn’t even know what that was then, or what that looked like,” she said.

While in bed with Brand, Alice says the comedian forced his penis into her mouth to the point she was unable to breathe.

“I was pushing him away and he wasn’t backing off at all,” she said.

“I ended up having to punch him really hard in the stomach to get him off. I was crying and he said, ‘Oh, I only wanted to see your mascara run anyway’.”

After this, he held her mouth open, drooled into it, and then held her mouth shut, forcing her to swallow his spit and leaving her “gagging and crying”.

Alice also told the investigation that Brand found it arousing that she was a virgin, called her “the child” and “my little dolly” and asked her to read the 1955 novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov about a professor sexually obsessed with pre-pubescent girls.

‘Raping a businesswoman in LA’

Nadia, who did not use her real name to protect her identity, said Brand raped her at his home in LA in 2012.

They previously had consensual sex but Nadia said he had a “glazed over” look during the encounter.

In the early hours of 1 July 2012, Brand pleaded with her to visit his house.

When she got there, he asked her to join him and a “friend” for a threesome in his bedroom, she alleged.

When she refused, Nadia said Brand pushed her against a wall and raped her without using a condom.

After escaping his house, she said Brand sent her a text at 3.29am, which said: “I’m sorry. That was crazy and selfish. I hope you can forgive me, I know that you’re a lovely person. X.”

She said she ignored a call from him but texted him the following morning to say he had “scared the s***” out of her, adding: “When a girl say(s) NO it means no.”

Brand replied he was “very sorry” and “embarrassed” by his behaviour, The Times reported.

Nadia provided the team of journalists with her medical records from a rape treatment centre she went to after the rape, as well as therapy records.

Several months later, she said she wrote to Brand, saying: “You completely broke me down.”

Brand ‘fired woman who worked for him after sex assault’

Phoebe – not her real name – had a brief consensual relationship with Brand after they met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in 2013, she said.

He later hired her for a project they worked on together.

During this time, Phoebe said she became “trapped” in a bedroom in Brand’s home and he started chasing her around the room.

Brand, who was naked, “grabbed me and got me on the bed” and tried to forcibly remove her clothes.

She said: “I was screaming, and I was like, ‘What are you doing, stop, please, you’re my friend, I love you, please don’t do this, I don’t want to do this’. I think he had his hands down my trousers but I was fighting so hard and I was screaming so hard, hoping that I could get through somehow.”

When the assault ended, Phoebe said Brand became “super angry” and shouted “f*** you” and told her she was fired.

She ran out of his house barefoot, running into a group of people outside who had arrived for a business meeting, Phoebe said.

One of the people in the group apologised to Phoebe years later, she claimed.

She said: “He pulled me aside and he said to me, ‘I have never forgiven myself for not running in that house to save you. I heard you screaming. And I didn’t know what to do. And we were all so scared of him and I didn’t do anything. And I am sorry’.”

Phoebe continued working with Brand but she said he “cornered her” and threatened legal action when he discovered she had told friends about the alleged assault.

‘Sexually assaulted ex-girlfriend’

Brand’s former girlfriend Jordan Martin did not provide an account to the journalists working on the investigation due to “personal family circumstances” but confirmed to the team that she stood by allegations she made in a self-published book.

The former model had a six-month relationship with Brand in 2007.

In her book, she detailed an alleged sexual assault at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester between Dina and Randall Grand – pseudonyms she used for herself and Brand.

Ms Martin said the comedian became angry when he found out she had spoken to an ex-boyfriend.

He then grabbed her phone and assaulted her in the bathroom, sliding his hand into her underwear, she claimed.

She said she was “not ready for this intrusion” and did not find it “sensual or pleasant”.

Brand also forced her to brush her teeth so hard that it made her gums bleed so she would taste “anonymous” to him, Ms Martin said.

She wrote that Brand “pushes boundaries, controlling other people to fulfil personal perversions for the sake of dominance”.

“There were times when I felt bullied and abused, not in a physical or sexual way, but mentally. I was vulnerable… His manipulative side was so powerful it was easier to just submit.”

Brand has never disputed Ms Martin’s account in her book.

‘Offered naked assistant to Jimmy Savile’

Dispatches and The Times also detailed other disturbing behaviour in the documentary – including inappropriate comments made to paedophile Jimmy Savile.

On his radio show in 2007, Brand spoke with Savile, who said they could meet if Brand brought his sister.

The comedian said he didn’t have a sister but offered to bring his assistant naked to the meeting.

“I’ve got a personal assistant, and part of her job description is that anyone I demand she greet, meet, massages, she has to do it. She’s very attractive, Jimmy,” Brand is claimed to have said.

Savile died in 2011 aged 84.

More than 450 allegations of sexual abuse against children were reported to police after his death.

‘Flashing junior staff’

Brand’s personal assistant between 2006 and 2007 also alleged he showed friends intimate pictures of women.

Brand also instructed the assistant, Helen Berger, to procure women for him to have sex with from audiences on shows he presented, she claimed.

She also said Brand often wore only underwear around her and had a “very active sex addiction”.

Meanwhile, a production runner on Big Brother’s Efourum said Brand flashed her on set and insinuated she “might like to suck his d***”.

She added: “I was incredibly shocked. I wasn’t going to tell anyone what he’d done because I didn’t want to lose my job.”

She later had consensual sex with him but he insisted she had to keep it a secret.

“As an older woman I can say with clarity I felt like I was groomed for sex,” the runner said.

“Production companies enabled him to exist in environments where he was able to take advantage of who he was.”

Another crew member said she raised a separate complaint with a colleague about Brand’s sexual pursuit of audience members on his shows.

The crew member said women often phoned her in tears “because they felt used”.

“I don’t know what went on once they left the studio,” they added.

She said it felt she was a “pimp to Russell Brand’s need” and that they “were taking lambs into slaughter”.

Brand denies allegations ‘absolutely’

Denying the allegations in a video posted online ahead of the publication of the claims, Brand said he was facing a “litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks”.

The 48-year-old said: “These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies and as I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.

“Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well.

“To see that transparency metastasised into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question – is there another agenda at play?”

UK

Prince Andrew insisted on ‘gag order’ to stop allegations spoiling Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, memoir claims

Published

4 hours ago

October 18, 2025

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Prince Andrew insisted on 'gag order' to stop allegations spoiling Queen's Platinum Jubilee, memoir claims

Prince Andrew insisted his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, sign a one-year gag order – to prevent details of her allegations tarnishing the late Queen’s platinum jubilee, her memoirs have claimed.

Andrew relinquished his Duke of York title and remaining honours on Friday evening.

It came after discussions with King Charles, in consultation with the Prince of Wales, both of whom wanted to bring an end to the long-lasting scandal.

But, according to The Telegraph, Ms Giuffre’s book, which is due out on Tuesday, is focusing further attention on the sexual assault allegations and the prince’s friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which led to the royal’s downfall.

She tells how Andrew’s “disastrous” Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis was like an “injection of jet fuel” for her legal team, and it raised the possibility of “subpoenaing” his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and drawing them into the legal case.

The Telegraph also reports Ms Giuffre’s claims that she got “more out of” Andrew than a reported £12m payout and $2m (around £1.4m) donation to her charity because she had “an acknowledgement that I and many other women had been victimised and a tacit pledge to never deny it again”.

The former duke paid to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.

Ms Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with the prince when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein. Andrew continues to vehemently deny her allegations.

Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating her platinum jubilee in 2022 – the first British monarch to reach the milestone – as the civil case against her son was gathering pace.

It was settled nine days after she reached the 70th anniversary of her accession.

According to the Telegraph, Ms Giuffre, who died in April, reveals in her book: “I agreed to a one-year gag order, which seemed important to the prince because it ensured that his mother’s platinum jubilee would not be tarnished any more than it already had been.”

In January 2022, a US judge ruled the civil case against Andrew could go ahead, and the Queen went on to strip him of his honorary military roles, with the prince also giving up his HRH style.

‘Devastating’ interview

His 2019 Newsnight interview, which he hoped would clear his name, backfired when he said he “did not regret” his friendship with convicted paedophile Epstein, who trafficked Ms Giuffre.

Andrew also said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting Ms Giuffre and added he could not have had sex with her in March 2001 because he was at Pizza Express with his daughter Beatrice on the day in question.

Ms Giuffre, whose book is called Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, wrote, according to The Telegraph: “As devastating as this interview was for Prince Andrew, for my legal team it was like an injection of jet fuel.

“Its contents would not only help us build an ironclad case against the prince but also open the door to potentially subpoenaing his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.”

‘Amazed he was stupid enough’

She also told how Andrew had “stonewalled” her legal team for months before settlement discussions began moving very quickly when his deposition was scheduled for March 2022.

Ms Giuffre also wrote she was “amazed” that a member of the royal family would be “stupid enough” to appear in public with the convicted paedophile, after a photo of the pair walking in New York emerged.

Andrew, who remains a prince and continues to live in the Crown Estate property Royal Lodge, said on Friday the “continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”.

He insisted he was putting his “family and country first” and would stop using “my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me”.

UK

Why William and Camilla likely had influential roles in decision over Prince Andrew’s titles

Published

4 hours ago

October 18, 2025

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Why William and Camilla likely had influential roles in decision over Prince Andrew's titles

It’s not the first seismic statement I’ve had to deal with from the Royal Family late into the evening.

But what I have learnt from past experience is that when they do come in this way, it’s because the decision has been made to act now and act fast.

Which inevitably has us all wondering, why now?

The latest stories about Prince Andrew and his email to Jeffrey Epstein were again a sign of just how close he’d been to the convicted paedophile, and an extract released from the late Virginia Giuffre’s book was heartbreaking and excruciatingly seedy.

And yes, the full book is released on Tuesday.

But in some ways, we have heard a lot of these lurid details before, albeit allegations that Prince Andrew denies.

Which is why it feels like this time, the family had just had enough.

It’s framed as a personal statement from Andrew, but the involvement of his relatives could not be any clearer: “In discussion with the King, and my immediate and wider family,” he writes, followed up by, “with His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further”.

It has always been hard to get a full picture of how much the King has engaged in the problems with his brother.

Speak to those who know the family well and they’ll tell you our current monarch “doesn’t like confrontation”, just like Queen Elizabeth II.

And while there has always remained “a warm familial feeling between the two brothers” which we’ve seen through Andrew’s appearance at family events, it is “tempered by the King’s responsibilities as head of state to be entirely separate from the perceived, real or alleged activities of the Duke of York”.

In the end, as head of the institution, and not as his brother, the King would have had to lead the discussions about the Andrew problem, but I suspect with heavy involvement from his eldest son and wife.

William, only in recent weeks, has told us there will be change when he becomes monarch, his advisors stressing he isn’t afraid to question why the Royal Family continues to do things in a certain way.

His very visible unease at standing next to Prince Andrew at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral showed us how uncomfortable he felt about his uncle being there at such a public moment.

His involvement in those discussions behind the scenes and making sure the institution was seen to be taking action against Andrew is likely to have been considerable.

I know that Queen Camilla is also a quiet but hugely powerful influence behind palace walls.

She is her husband’s listening ear, sounding board, but also not afraid to tell him when she believes there needs to be change.

Her own work to break taboos around sexual violence and encourage survivors to speak out must have made it even more difficult for her to read the stories about Andrew’s links to Epstein, and the sexual allegations against her brother-in-law, even though he has always vehemently denied them.

And then there are those closest to the Prince.

You have to have sympathy with his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Did they tell their father that he needed to do something for their sake to try and shut down the noise?

His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has also been burned in recent weeks by her association with Epstein – a spectre who, despite his death, has continued to haunt the royal family.

So what of Prince Andrew? How will this impact him?

Any sense he might have a chance at returning to some kind of public life has truly evaporated. We wait to see if, with time, he is again allowed to appear at least for family occasions.

I’ve always been told “he is robust and self-contained and always has been”.

Interpret that how you will – arrogance that he could ride it out, or a very strongly-held conviction that he has never done anything wrong?

Either way, he clearly believes he has been unfairly punished by the court of public opinion.

One thing a source did tell me is that there is a sense he’s never really needed the affirmation of his family.

He may not need their emotional support, but in the end, we have again seen how no member of the family is bigger than the institution.

Protecting the reputation of “the firm” has to come first.

Prince Andrew may feel that he has done the right thing, even done his family a favour, by personally relinquishing the use of his titles and honours, but this, in the end, was not just his choice.

No longer to be known as HRH or the Duke of York, he is now Prince Andrew only – ultimately forced to fall on his sword by his own family.

UK

Everything we know about Prince Andrew’s titles decision

Published

4 hours ago

October 18, 2025

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Everything we know about Prince Andrew's titles decision

Prince Andrew has announced he is giving up his royal titles, including the Duke of York.

The decision is understood to have been made in close consultation with King Charles and other members of the Royal Family.

Prince Andrew said continued accusations against him were distracting from the King’s work.

He had been accused by Virginia Giuffre, who died in April, of sexual assault. He denies this.

Which titles is he giving up?

Prince Andrew is giving up his Duke of York title. Sky News understands this will be immediate.

He will also give up his knighthood as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) and his Garter role as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

He will retain the dukedom, which can only be removed by an Act of Parliament, but will not use it.

Prince Andrew will also remain a prince, as the son of Queen Elizabeth II.

Why is this happening now?

Ms Giuffre, who was one of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, alleged Prince Andrew sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, and sued him in 2021.

In her posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl, due to be published on Tuesday, she alleged he was “entitled” and “believed having sex with me was his birthright”.

Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations.

He has also always claimed that a well-known image of them together was doctored. Before her death, which her family said was by suicide, the case was settled outside of court for a sum believed to have been around £12m.

Ms Giuffre’s posthumous memoir goes on sale a week after an email emerged showing Andrew told Epstein “we are in this together”.

The email was reportedly sent three months after he said he had stopped contact with the convicted sex offender.

On Friday evening, the US House Oversight Committee also released documents from Epstein’s estate showing “Prince Andrew” listed as a passenger on the financier’s private jet – the so-called Lolita Express – from Luton to Edinburgh in 2006, alongside Ghislaine Maxwell.

He was also listed on another flight to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2000.

The flight logs have been reported on for years but the release may have added to pressure.

“The situation has become untenable and intolerable, and this week in particular, the tipping point had been reached,” said royal correspondent Laura Bundock.

It is understood that the changes will take effect immediately.

The Giuffre family has called for the King to go further and “remove the title of Prince”.

Prince Andrew’s decision to relinquish his titles also comes following increased pressure over his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.

Will this affect his ex-wife and daughters?

Sky News understands that Andrew will continue to live at the Windsor Estate at the Royal Lodge. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also remain living at the Royal Lodge.

But for the second year running, he will not attend the Royal Family’s annual Christmas celebrations at Sandringham, it is understood.

Andrew’s ex-wife will also no longer use her Duchess of York title.

She was dropped by numerous charities last month after it emerged that she wrote to convicted sex offender Epstein, calling him a “supreme friend”, despite publicly disowning him in the media.

The decision over Andrew’s titles will not impact on the position of his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, it is understood.

Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills says the move may not stop the influx of negative stories about him.

She said: “This ends the questions on what more the monarch could do to show how the family felt about the accusations, the upset and the embarrassment caused.

“Will it stop the stories, the allegations and the interest in Prince Andrew? That is far less certain. But in what is the prince’s first public statement since that ill-fated Newsnight interview in 2019, it is striking that he signs it off by saying, ‘I vigorously deny the accusations against me’.”

What did Prince Andrew say in his statement?

In his statement, Prince Andrew said: “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.

“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me.

“As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.