Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assault and psychological abuse | Russell brand

Russell Brand was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse over a seven-year period at the height of his fame.

The allegations between 2006 and 2013 were the result of a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. Brand denies the allegations.

Five alleged victims, four of whom were anonymous, were interviewed in the documentary Dépêches broadcast on Saturday evening.

The Times headlines said it contacted the media personality’s representatives with details of the allegations – as well as information to help him remember the incidents in question – ahead of scheduled publication, giving them eight days to respond.

Brand’s lawyers initially claimed they were unable to do so, the newspapers reported, because of the “large litany of questions” and the decision to grant the women’s requests to make them anonymous.

Brand’s lawyers called the way the request for comment was worded a “preconceived strategy to harm their client,” according to the report. They added that he believed there was “a deeply concerning agenda in all of this, namely that it is an alternative media broadcaster competing with the mainstream media”. The Sunday Times said Brand’s lawyers did not respond to further requests for comment.

It was after being given another opportunity to respond to the allegations that Brand decided to release a statement online on Friday, the Sunday Times reported. He added that he received no response when newspapers asked for the evidence Brand claimed contradicted their reporting.

According to the newspaper report, one of the women said Brand began a relationship with her when he was 31 and she was still a 16-year-old schoolgirl. She reportedly said he called her “the child” during an alleged three-month emotionally abusive and controlling relationship.

She told Dispatches that the presenter once “forced his penis down her throat”, causing her to choke, leading her to punch him in the stomach to make him stop.

Another woman claimed Brand raped her in 2012 in his Los Angeles home, the Sunday Times reported, adding that she received treatment at a rape crisis center the same day.

The newspaper said she had messaged him to say she had been scared and felt taken advantage of, adding: “When a girl says NO, it means no.” Brand reportedly responded by saying he was “truly sorry,” the newspaper reported.

The woman, who said she met him at an after-party for his chat show Brand cause of the actor’s fame.

A third woman said Brand sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles and threatened legal action if she told anyone else about his allegations, a the newspaper reported. A fourth woman described being “sexually assaulted” by Brand and being “physically and emotionally abusive” towards her, the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper said several other people accused Brand of physical and emotional abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation, adding that those who came forward did not know each other and had mostly chosen to remain anonymous.

The newspaper also reports that the woman who said she met Brand when she was 16 – who he gave the pseudonym Alice – contacted Brand’s former agency, Tavistock Wood, in 2020 to alert them of the behavior she had alleged and to demand an apology.

She said she was promised an answer when she returned from a wellness retreat. When one came, she said, it was from the lawyers representing Brand, who denied the claim on her behalf and accused her of seeking financial gain.

Television researchers and runners who worked on the Channel 4 shows claimed that Brand would ask staff to approach young women from the audience who he found attractive so he could meet them after filming.

Contacted by the Guardian on Saturday, Tavistock Wood said: “Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegations made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him. TW has terminated all professional ties with Brand.

Sources also told investigative journalists that Brand had displayed worrying behavior on several occasions during his time at the BBC, including one incident described as an “alarming display of aggression and disrespect “. The Sunday Times reported that sources had said that Brand’s attitude towards women had become what the paper called “an open secret in radio and television production”.

He also quoted Alice, who later worked for Channel 4, as saying that concerns had been raised when it was proposed that Brand would host a show. “The solution that was proposed was that we remove female staff from the team – women who have worked hard to get into this industry – and who now can no longer work on particular shows for fear of them being assaulted or harassed. I was in disbelief,” she told the newspaper.

Dispatches featured an interview Brand did on his BBC show with Jimmy Savile, who was posthumously exposed as a serial sex offender, where the two men discussed the possibility of Brand’s assistant turning up naked to meet the DJ.

Brand had already decided to deny what he called “very serious criminal allegations” Friday evening. In a video posted online, he said he received correspondence from a media company and a newspaper detailing the allegations; This is standard practice for journalists preparing to report serious allegations regarding a named entity.

He issued his denial in a video posted to his accounts on several media platforms, insisting that his relationships had always been consensual.

He described the reports as a “litany of extremely blatant and aggressive attacks” and said they related to a period in his career when he was working “in the mainstream…As I have written extensively in my books, I I was very, very promiscuous. (at this moment).”

Brand continued: “Now, during this period of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about it then, almost too transparent, and I am now as well.

“Seeing this transparency metastasized into something criminal, which I absolutely deny, makes me wonder: is there another agenda at play?

On Saturday evening, Brand performed at the Troubadour Theater Wembley Park in London. He arrived almost an hour later than expected to present his show Bipolarisation, after being “stuck in traffic”. Opening his act to applause, he thanked the crowd and said: “There are some things I can’t talk about and I hope you appreciate that.” I’ll give you everything I have.

Channel 4 said it was “dismayed to learn of these deeply disturbing allegations, including behavior allegedly taking place in programs made for Channel 4 between 2004 and 2007”.

The company spokesperson said: “We are determined to understand the full nature of what happened. We have carried out extensive documentary research and have found no evidence to suggest that the alleged incidents were brought to the attention of Channel 4. We will continue to review this in light of any other information we receive, including stories of the people involved.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Russell Brand has worked for a number of different organisations, including the BBC. As everyone knows, Russell Brand left the BBC after a serious editorial failure in 2008 – just like the then controller of Radio 2.

“The circumstances of the violation were examined in detail at the time. We hope this demonstrates that the BBC takes the issues seriously and is prepared to take action.

“Indeed, over the years the BBC has evolved its approach to how it manages talent and how it deals with complaints or issues raised.

“We have clear expectations for conduct at work, these are set out in employment contracts, the BBC Values, the BBC Code of Conduct and the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy.

“We will always listen to people if they raise concerns, on any matter relating to anyone working at the BBC, past or present.”