British comedian Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse. The allegations come from a joint investigation between The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s documentary team for “Dispatches.” The 90-minute “Dispatches” episode aired on UK network Channel 4 on September 16th, 2023.
“Five women, four of whom asked to remain anonymous, agreed to share their stories of serious sexual allegations in the program,” said a representative for the show.
One victim claims Brand assaulted her when she was 16, and he was in his 30s. The victim claims Brand nicknamed her “The Child,” and would have her read passages of Valdimir Nabokov‘s novel “Lolita” to him. According to the report, the alleged assault occurred during their three-month “emotionally and sexually abusive” relationship. The details shared by the victim are disturbing, to say the least.
Another victim claims Brand raped her in his Los Angeles home in 2012. A third victim claims Brand sexually assaulted her in his West Hollywood home, when she worked with him in 2013, and alleges Brand threatened to take legal action if she ever spoke about it publicly.
Other alleged incidents included in the report are as follows:
- A 24-year-old runner claims Brand once “flashed his penis” when entering his dressing room and “insinuated that she could give him oral sex”
- Brand’s former personal assistant, Helen Berger, told the newspaper she witnessed Brand showing “intimate pictures of women” to his friends, including a woman she knew
- A female comedian claims Brand would repeatedly “bite my face” whenever she saw him
- A male comedian, Daniel Slott, told the newspaper that he was aware of his female counterparts had been “warning each other about Russell” for years
Brand found fame as a host for MTV U.K. before staring in Hollywood films like, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek.” According to The Sunday Times, Brand has been accused of sexual assault by four women between 2006 and 2013. Brand was previously married to singer Katy Perry, from 2010 to 2012.
Brand pre-emptively denied these allegations in a video titled “So, This Is Happening.” It was uploaded September 15th, 2023. He says he “absolutely refutes” the “litany of astonishing, rather baroque, attacks.”
“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in mainstream media, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I’ve 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’m bring transparent about it now as well.”
when presented with the allegations from The Sunday Times investigation, Brand’s lawyers said they are “not in a position” to reply. Brand’s literary agent, Tavistock Wood, has since dropped him.
According to the Times, one woman contacted Wood in 2020 and informed the agent about her experience with Brand when she was 16. All she wanted was an apology, which she never received. Instead ,she heard back from Brand’s lawyer, who denied her allegations in a “very aggressive” manner.
“Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegations in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him,” Wood said in a statement. Wood has terminated all professional ties to Brand.
Brand has faced numerous controversies during his career. His autobiographies describe several controversies, including his prolific drug use. in recent years, Brand has moved away from mainstream media. He reinvented himself as a “wellness guru.”
You can check out Brand’s denial video now.
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