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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 Brand as 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.

Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon addressed the Russell Brand allegations at the RTS Cambridge Convention. Pic: Richard Kendal/RTS
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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.”

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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BBC boss asked about Brand allegations

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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.

BBC director-general Tim Davie on stage at the RTS Cambridge Convention. Pic: Richard Kendal/RTS
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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.

Brand, who denies the allegations, claimed in a video posted online on Friday night that all his relationships have been “consensual”.

The Metropolitan Police said it received an allegation of sexual assault against Russell Brand dating back to 2003 following the publication of the claims.

On Tuesday, Mr Davie announced a review into Brand’s time at the corporation.

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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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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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Evidence against Brand ‘compelling’

Speaking to The Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, Baillie said that YouTube’s decision to suspend earnings from Brand’s channel amounted to “cancel culture”.

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.”

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Lil Nas X: Rapper arrested and taken to hospital after wandering LA street in underwear

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Lil Nas X: Rapper arrested and taken to hospital after wandering LA street in underwear

US rapper Lil Nas X has been arrested and taken to hospital after being found walking in his underwear on a Los Angeles street and allegedly charging at officers and punching one.

Police said in a statement that officers responded shortly before 6am on Thursday (2pm UK time) following reports of a naked man, according to Sky’s US partner NBC News.

The LA force said that as officers went to the 11000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, the man rushed towards them.

“He was transported to a local hospital for a possible overdose and placed under arrest for battery on a police officer,” police said.

A law enforcement source confirmed to NBC News that the suspect was Montero Lamar Hill, also known as Lil Nas X.

The Old Town Road rapper punched an officer twice in the face during the encounter, according to the NBC source.

Officers were unsure whether he was on any substances or in mental distress, the source said.

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A representative for Hill did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NBC News cited TMZ footage where Hill was seen walking down the middle of Ventura Boulevard at 4am on Thursday in a pair of white briefs and cowboy boots.

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In the videos, Hill tells a driver to “come to the party” in one clip and in another tells the person, “Didn’t I tell you to put the phone down?”

“Uh oh, someone’s going to have to pay for that,” Hill says as he continues to walk away.

In some clips, Hill struts as if he’s on a catwalk, posing for onlookers, and at one point he places an orange traffic cone on his head.

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Noel Clarke loses libel case against Guardian publisher over sexual misconduct allegations

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Noel Clarke loses libel case against Guardian publisher over sexual misconduct allegations

Actor Noel Clarke has lost his High Court libel case against the publisher of The Guardian, over a series of news articles which featured claims from a number of women.

The first article, published in April 2021, said some 20 women who knew Clarke in a professional capacity had come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.

The 49-year-old actor, writer and director, best known for his 2006 film Kidulthood and starring in Doctor Who, sued the publisher and vehemently denied “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing” – but the court has found Guardian News and Media (GNM) successfully defended the legal action on the grounds of truth and public interest.

Noel Clarke outside court during the trial in April. Pic: PA
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Noel Clarke outside court during the trial in April. Pic: PA

The meanings of all eight of the newspaper’s publications were found to be “substantially true”, the judge, Mrs Justice Steyn, said in a summary of the findings.

“I have accepted some of Mr Clarke’s evidence… but overall I find that he was not a credible or reliable witness,” she said.

In her ruling, the judge also said suggestions that more than 20 witnesses, “none of whom are parties or have a stake in this case, as [Clarke] does” had come to court to lie was “inherently implausible”.

From the evidence heard, it was “clear that women have been speaking about their experiences of working with Mr Clarke for many years”, she said.

‘A deserved victory for women who suffered’

Lucy Osborne and Sirin Kale, the journalists who carried out the investigation, told Sky News they had always been confident in everything published.

“I think that this is not a problem that’s going to go away,” said Osborne. “This kind of behaviour very much still happens in the TV and film industry and other industries. So I do hope this judgment gives other women the confidence to speak out about what they’ve experienced.”

Clarke rose to fame with his 2006 film Kidulthood. Pic: PA
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Clarke rose to fame with his 2006 film Kidulthood. Pic: PA

Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner described the ruling as “a deserved victory for those women who suffered because of the behaviour of Noel Clarke”.

She continued: “Going to court is difficult and stressful, yet more than 20 women agreed to testify in the High Court, refusing to be bullied or intimidated.

“This is also a landmark judgment for Guardian journalism, and for investigative journalism in Britain… The judgment is clear that our investigation was thorough and fair, a template for public interest journalism.”

Clarke’s response

Clarke described the result as disappointing and maintained he believes the newspaper’s reporting was “inaccurate and damaging”.

“I have never claimed to be perfect,” he said. “But I am not the person described in these articles. Overnight I lost everything.”

He said he wanted to thank witnesses who supported his case, as well as his family, “who never stopped believing there was something worth fighting for”.

What happened during the trial?

The trial took place from early March to early April 2025, hearing evidence from multiple witnesses who made accusations against Clarke, including that he had allegedly shared nude photographs of them without their consent, groped them, and asked them to look at him when he was exposed.

Clarke also gave evidence over several days. At one stage, the actor appeared visibly emotional as he claimed the publisher had “smashed my life” with its investigation.

His lawyer told the court he had been made a “scapegoat” and was an “easy target”, as a star at the height of his success when the media industry “zealously sought to correct itself” following the #MeToo movement.

The actor had been handed the outstanding British contribution to cinema award at the BAFTAs just a few weeks before the report was published. Following the article, BAFTA announced it had suspended his membership.

But lawyers for The Guardian told how newspaper’s investigation was “careful and thorough”, saying it had been carried out “conscientiously” by the journalists involved.

In March 2022, police said the actor would not face a criminal investigation over the allegations.

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Why Germany’s top football league is turning to this man

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Viral YouTuber on the path to become one of football's most powerful men

The growing popularity and reach of the Premier League globally is leaving rival European football competitions struggling to compete.

Not only to find an audience, but to find outlets to even show the matches.

So German football had to think differently – going to where Gen Z is engaging with football through content creators.

And that’s why tonight, Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich will begin their defence of the Bundesliga title live to 1.4 million subscribers on the That’s Football channel on YouTube.

Harry Kane in Bundesliga action last season. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Harry Kane in Bundesliga action last season. Pic: Reuters

It’s run by Mark Goldbridge, known for passionate but often provocative, punchy commentary about players on streams going viral.

His brand was built by being filmed reacting to watching Manchester United matches.

“People need to appreciate that we have a certain content style, and that’s very, very popular,” Goldbridge told Sky News.

“That is an area that needs to be catered [to] and that’s why, without the rights, we’ve had such big, big audiences.”

Goldbridge revealed he isn’t paying to show his 20 Friday night matches this season – reinforcing how the Bundesliga struggled to find a buyer in Britain.

Sky Sports previously had a four-year rights deal to exclusively show those German matches here, but will now only show the prestige Saturday evening slot live.

Bundesliga teams Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig during their match in April. Pic: Reuters
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Bundesliga teams Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig during their match in April. Pic: Reuters

European leagues are finding it increasingly difficult in this market to sell their rights because domestic football is so dominant and appealing.

The focus of football budgets is on domestic games for Sky as well as Discovery-owned TNT Sports, which also focuses its European football coverage on men’s continental competitions, including the Champions League.

More Premier League matches will be shown live than ever before – with at least 215 on Sky, the parent company of Sky News, and others on TNT.

Sky Sports also has live men’s rights to the English Football League and Scottish matches, as well as sharing the Women’s Super League with the BBC.

The Bundesliga is also making the games broadcast by Goldbridge’s channel available to the BBC to stream online. They will further be on The Overlap, a YouTube channel part-owned by Gary Neville.

Behind the scenes of covering a Premier League game
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Behind the scenes of covering a Premier League game

‘A progressive step’

Bundesliga International CEO Peer Naubert said: “Our approach is as diverse as our supporters: by combining established broadcasters with digital platforms and content creators, we are taking a progressive step in how top-level football can be experienced.

“This multi-layered strategy allows us to connect with more audiences across the UK and Ireland, giving every supporter the chance to engage … in the way that suits them best.”

While the former England and Manchester United player is a star pundit on Sky, he could also be seen as a rival to the Comcast-owned broadcaster by attracting fans to newer outlets of his channel.

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Goldbridge doesn’t see himself as a rival yet to long-established broadcasters.

“We’re not looking to replace what you can find on Sky or the BBC or anything like that,” he said. “This is a community that will be live with us, watching the Bundesliga, learning about it.

“And if I get a pronunciation wrong, or I don’t know about a player, then I’ve got my community there to back me up. I don’t profess to know everything.”

Kane celebrates the Bundesliga title with his Bayern Munich teammates. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Kane celebrates the Bundesliga title with his Bayern Munich teammates. Pic: Reuters

‘This is the future’

But he can be relatable to audiences, with more than two million subscribing to his The United Stand channel, earning him millions of pounds over the last decade.

“We’ve been there growing in the background and I think certain media outlets have ignored that, maybe hoping it would go away,” he said.

“I certainly think synergy and collaboration need to happen more because there are things in the mainstream that I don’t like and there will be people out there that really don’t like the way we watch football, but a lot of people do.

“And it’s about offering that choice to people and there are different ways people listen to football on the radio, people watch it with a commentator, some people turn the audio off completely, some people watch things like this (watch-a-long).

“And I think that is the future, to offer more choice.”

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