Channel 4’s chief executive has described the allegations made against Russell Brand as “horrendous” and said it is clear that “terrible behaviour towards women was historically tolerated” in the TV industry.
Alex Mahon made the comments about Brandas she addressed the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention, scheduled before the allegations of sexual assault emerged at the weekend.
Some of the claims date back to when the comedian was presenting the Big Brother spin-off programme Big Brother’s Big Mouth on Channel 4.
Brand, 48, denies any allegations made against him.
Mahon told the audience at the convention that the alleged behaviour, made public in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, needs to be looked into further.
She urged people with any information to get in touch anonymously if they want to.
“They’re not empty words or gestures,” she said, adding that the broadcaster will look to find out who knew what about any alleged inappropriate behaviour during Brand’s time on the show.
Image: Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon at the RTS Cambridge Convention. Pic: Richard Kendal/RTS
“But what is clear to me is that terrible behaviour towards women was historically tolerated in our industry, and the clips we’ve seen as well provide a rather shocking jolt when one realises what appeared on air not that long ago,” she said.
“The behaviour is less prevalent now, but it’s still a problem and it’s something that we must all confront. There is still more change that needs to come.”
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She added: “The allegations made against Russell Brand are horrendous, and as a CEO of Channel 4 and as a woman in our industry.
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“I found the behaviours described in Dispatches and The Sunday Times and The Times articles disgusting and saddening.
“The allegations of course need to be followed up further, and we and the BBC and Banijay [a production company] are busy investigating.”
BBC general director, Tim Davie, who was also speaking at the event, said there needed to be an “important dialogue around the deep imbalances of power” within the television industry.
Image: BBC director-general Tim Davie on stage at the RTS Cambridge Convention. Pic: Richard Kendal/RTS
“I think there’s a deep responsibility for the leaders. The culture needs to be one of trust,” he added.
“There has been deep problems with misogyny, abuse of power, and we just have to be utterly vigilant – be unaccepting of it.”
BBC and Channel 4 remove Brand content
Four women made sexual abuse allegations against the star between 2006 and 2013 as part of the investigation by The Sunday Times and Dispatches.
The Metropolitan Police said it received an allegation of sexual assault against Russell Brand dating back to 2003 following the publication of the claims.
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0:31
TV exec: Brand allegations ‘depressing’
The announcement came hours after the broadcaster removed some of its content featuring Brand from iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
TV production firm Banijay UK, owners of Endemol, which produced Big Brother and its spin-offs, confirmed over the weekend that it had launched an investigation.
YouTube also suspended adverts on videos by Brand, while Channel 4 took down content featuring the comedian from its streaming service.
The Google-owned company said it had suspended the monetisation of Brand’s channel for “violating our Creator Responsibility policy”.
The comedian found fame in the early 2000s on the stand-up circuit and as a TV host, before starring in Hollywood films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and presenting a show on BBC Radio 2.
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However, in recent years, he has switched to wellness coaching and producing regular YouTube videos – from which he is thought to derive much of his income.
Brand maintains a presence on Rumble – a video site popular with some conservatives and far-right groups – where his channel has 1.4m followers and X, formerly known as Twitter, where he has more than 11m followers.
He has not posted on either since his video denial on Friday.
‘Pretty depressing’
It comes as a TV executive who worked at a company that hired Brand described the allegations against the star as “depressing”.
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0:42
Russell Brand denies ‘serious allegations’
Phil Edgar-Jones was creative director of Remarkable Pictures, part of Endemol UK, and oversaw Big Brother during its Channel 4 years.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “There was never any sense that he’d done anything inappropriate that was brought to our attention, certainly.
“We knew he had a reputation for being promiscuous – and everybody knew that at the time – but that’s as far as it went, as far as we knew.”
He added that the allegations were “pretty depressing”.
Mr Edgar-Jones, who is now director of Sky Arts and Entertainment, went on to stress that Remarkable Pictures would “100%” have acted if something was brought to its attention.
Removing YouTube earnings is ‘cancel culture’
Brand was at the centre of the so-called “Sachsgate” scandal in 2008, when he and TV presenter Jonathan Ross left lewd messages on the answerphone of Andrew Sachs, the late actor who starred in Fawlty Towers.
The voicemails had related to Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie, who had an on-off relationship with Brand in the 2000s.
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The 38-year-old actress went on to say that, even though she did not know all of the details surrounding the allegations, some of the evidence is “compelling”.
When asked about her thoughts about the claims, Baillie added: “I don’t know what happened there – I don’t know because I wasn’t there. He never did anything like that with me, everything was more than consensual, I promise.”
Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed calls for an investigation into his chancellor after she apologised for putting her family home up for rent without obtaining the necessary licence.
The newspaper reported that the chancellor rented her family home in Dulwich when she moved into Number 11 Downing Street, but was unaware she had to obtain a licence to do so.
Some London boroughs require private landlords to obtain a specific kind of licence if they are putting their property up for rent – including Southwark Council, where Ms Reeves’ home is listed.
The newspaper said Ms Reeves had now applied for a licence, but the Conservatives have called for an investigation.
A spokesperson for Ms Reeves said: “Since becoming chancellor, Rachel Reeves has rented out her family home through a lettings agency.
“She had not been made aware of the licensing requirement, but as soon as it was brought to her attention, she took immediate action and has applied for the licence.
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“This was an inadvertent mistake and in the spirit of transparency, she has made the prime minister, the independent adviser on ministerial standards and the parliamentary commissioner for standards aware.”
It is understood that Sir Laurie Magnus, the prime minister’s ethics adviser, has not launched an investigation into Ms Reeves.
Sir Keir said further investigation into the issue was “not necessary” after consulting Sir Laurie.
In a letter to Ms Reeves, he suggested her apology was a “sufficient resolution”.
Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the chancellor was adding to the government’s “list of scandals”.
“The chancellor is meant to be delivering growth but the only thing she appears to be growing is the government’s list of scandals,” she said.
“Just weeks before the budget, this risks seriously undermining confidence in this government and its ability to focus on the urgent tasks at hand.”
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Under the proposal, sellers, instead of buyers, would be responsible for paying the tax.
The chancellor is understood to be looking at an annual 1% charge on the amount a property’s value exceeds £2m – a £10,000-a-year levy for homes worth £3m.
Another proposal would see capital gains tax (CGT) charged when someone sells their main home, based on the amount it has increased in value during ownership.
Reports suggest this would only be applied to the most expensive properties, with a possible threshold of £1.5m, which would affect about 120,000 homeowners and higher-rate taxpayers getting CGT bills of nearly £200,000.
Migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu, who was wrongly freed from prison, has claimed in an interview with Sky News that he tried to hand himself in to police a day before he was arrested, but was ignored by officers.
The Home Office said Kebatu, 38, was deported from the UK on Tuesday night.
Speaking to Sky News after he arrived back in Ethiopia on Wednesday morning, Kebatu shared details of his accidental release from HMP Chelmsford on 24 October and the two-day manhunt that followed.
The convicted sex offender was repeatedly questioned on his crimes, but Sky News has chosen not to broadcast this part of the interview.
‘Ignored’ by police
The morning after he was released from prison, Kebatu claimed he tried to hand himself into police, but was ignored.
He said: “I [told] police, look here, police I am wanted man, I am arrested, I will give you my hand, please help where is police station? He ignored me, he drove [off].”
He added that he told the officer his name and that he was mistakenly released from prison.
“I am not unknown. The police station, where is the place? But also I go to police, I will give you my hand please help me where is the police station, take me, I am wanted.
“You know me, or my image, my name is Hadush Kabatu, nationality Ethiopia. Please, I was the mistake release from Chelmsford prison. Please help me.”
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0:45
Moment Hadush Kebatu put on deportation flight
Responding to Kebatu’s claims, the Metropolitan Police told Sky News: “The Met is not aware of any evidence to support the claims that Kebatu approached officers on Saturday morning.
“The actions of officers who responded to the sighting of him on Sunday morning show how seriously they were taking the manhunt. Kebatu’s actions on the morning of his arrest were more like those of someone trying to avoid officers, not trying to hand himself in.”
Release from prison
Kebatu was released by HMP Chelmsford a month into his 12-month sentence on the expectation he would be picked up by immigration enforcement.
He said after he was released he waited more than three hours outside the prison, for what he described as someone who was “responsible” for him.
He said: “At that time I am waiting more than three hours… who [is] responsible for me? Where is Home Office, where is [immigration]?
“I was told there was a bus. Also, all the experts, they all ignored me.”
In another Sky News story, a delivery driver who spoke to Kebatu outside Chelmsford prison said he looked “confused”.
The driver said he was approached by the prisoner, who had no idea where he was supposed to go. He said Kebatu waited outside the prison for roughly “an hour and a half” before leaving.
Kebatu said after he left the prison, he asked a passerby where the train station was. He claimed someone helped him, and bought him a train ticket for £18.
Image: Kebatu’s movements the day he was released from prison
The Ethiopian national arrived in the UK on a small boat on 29 June. Days after his arrival, he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, Essex, where he was staying.
He was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and one count of harassment without violence.
When approached by Sky News, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) pointed to a statement made by Justice Secretary David Lammy upon Kebatu’s deportation: “Kebatu has been returned to Ethiopia where he belongs.
“I am grateful to Home Office colleagues for acting swiftly to secure his deportation. I have been clear from the outset that a mistake of this nature is unacceptable, and we must get to the bottom of what happened.
“I have established an independent investigation chaired by Dame Lynne Owens into last Friday’s events to get the public the answers they rightly deserve, and we have introduced the strictest checks ever seen in our prison system to stop similar unacceptable errors in future.”
Essex Police, who arrested Kebatu after the assaults in July, told Sky News: “Our officers responded quickly to the reports of the sexual assaults committed in Epping and arrested Hadush Kebatu on the same day the offences were reported to us.
“Kebatu was then immediately remanded in custody, while officers acted diligently and professionally securing charges and building a case which saw Kebatu convicted following a trial. Protecting women and girls is a priority for Essex Police and our swift and thorough actions highlight our commitment to this.”
Migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu was given £500 to be deported to Ethiopia following his mistaken release from prison, Sky News understands.
The government, who confirmed he was escorted on to a plane at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday night, said he has no right to return to the UK.
But Sky News understands Kebatu was handed a discretionary payment of £500 as part of efforts to avoid a lengthy legal challenge after he made threats to disrupt his removal.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she “pulled every lever” to deport Kebatu, although it is thought the decision about the payment was made by removal teams, not ministers.
“I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported. Our streets are safer because of it,” she said.
Image: Hadush Kebatu seen on the plane during his deportation flight
Image: Hadush Kebatu was arrested on Sunday after his mistaken release
He was expected to be deported, but instead of being handed over to immigration officials, he was released in error from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.
He spent just under 48 hours at large before he was apprehended.
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2:52
Prisoner releases: ‘A problem on the rise’
The accidental release sparked widespread alarm and questions over how a man whose crimes sparked protests in Epping over the use of asylum hotels was able to be freed.
Ms Mahmood said: “Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did.”
Image: Anti-asylum demonstrators in Epping, Essex. Pic: PA
On Sunday, Justice Secretary David Lammy said an exclusive Sky News interview will be used as part of an independent inquiry into the mistaken release.
Speaking to Sky’s national correspondent Tom Parmenter, a delivery driver who spoke to Kebatu at HMP Chelmsford described him as being “confused” as he was being guided to the railway station by prison staff.
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5:44
Local council reads family statement: ‘My family feels massively let down’
The migrant is said to have returned to the prison reception four or five times before leaving the area on a train heading to London.
Mr Lammy, who put Kebatu’s release down to human error, said he has ordered an “urgent review” into the checks that take place when an offender is released from prison, and new safeguards have been added that amount to the “strongest release checks that have ever been in place”.