Good morning. Allegations that Russell Brand raped and sexually assaulted several women at the height of his career have thrown the entertainment industry into crisis. Today, politicians of all stripes are expected to demand explanations from TV executives about what they knew – and when.
In a detailed investigation by, the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, five women accused Brand of abusive and predatory behaviour, including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013. Brand denies the allegations, and said his relationships were “always consensual”.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, said the entertainment industry has questions to answer over the allegations. And he said that society must “be better” at listening to the voices of the “relatively powerless”.
“Because we, I think, collectively have missed opportunities to do the right thing and intervene much, much earlier,” he told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. “I think there are some real challenges where you have these very, very acute differentials in power.”
The police, the BBC and Channel 4 – which both employed Brand on their networks at the time – have begun inquiries into the allegations against Brand.
Five big stories
Russell Brand | Broadcasters have launched urgent investigations into the historical conduct of Russell Brand while the Metropolitan police has appealed for any potential victims to come forward after the comedian was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.
Labour | Keir Starmer has committed to pursuing a major rewrite of the Brexit deal with the EU if Labour is elected, citing his responsibility to his children and future generations. He told the Financial Times he would seek a closer trading relationship with Brussels when the agreement negotiated by then-prime minister Boris Johnson comes up for review in 2025.
Economy | Liz Truss will blame the UK’s economic problems on “25 years of economic consensus” as she doubles down on the policy proposals that helped trigger financial turmoil and caused her to be ousted from Downing Street after just 49 days. The former prime minister will give a speech at the Institute for Government on Monday, almost exactly a year since her government’s “mini-budget”, which caused the pound to crash and ultimately led to her downfall.
Donald Trump | The former US president, and Republican frontrunner for the 2024 nomination, said people in his party “speak very inarticulately” about abortion and criticised those who push for abortion bans without exceptions in the cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother.
Russia | US oil and gas multinationals are facing fresh questions over their trade with Russia after customs records revealed that more than $7.1m (£5.7m) worth of equipment manufactured by Halliburton has been exported into the country since it announced the end of its Russian operations.
In depth: ‘We were basically acting like pimps to Russell Brand’s needs’
The joint investigation – which includes an allegation that Brand sexually assaulted a 16-year-old schoolgirl when he was 31 – has sparked widespread concern not just about Brand’s alleged behaviour but also about safeguarding in the industry.
Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the House of Commons media committee, said: “We will be closely monitoring the responses of the media, especially our public service broadcasters, to these allegations, and looking at the questions that this, yet again, raises about the culture in the industry as a whole.”
The BBC, which employed Brand as a DJ on BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 at the time of the allegations, said the reports “contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years” and it was “urgently looking into the issues raised”.
A spokesperson for Channel 4 said it was “appalled to learn of these deeply troubling allegations, including behaviour alleged to have taken place on programmes made for Channel 4 between 2004 and 2007”.
Banijay UK, the production company that made Big Brother’s Efourum and Big Brother’s Big Mouth, which Brand presented in the early 2000s, has also “launched an urgent investigation” into allegations that the comedian made production staff “act like pimps” by getting the phone numbers of women in the audience.
Production staff on the programme told Dispatches that Brand would point out audience members and ask “the runner to get phone numbers”. “It was like we were taking lambs into slaughter. We were basically acting like pimps to Russell Brand’s needs,” they said. You can read the Guardian review of the Dispatches programme here.
The Metropolitan police said the force had been in contact with reporters at the Sunday Times to “ensure that any victims of crime who they have spoken with are aware of how they may report any criminal allegations to police”.
“If anyone believes they have been the victim of a sexual assault, no matter how long ago it happened, we would encourage them to contact police,” the Met said.
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Brand in 2019: #MeToo is ‘a really positive change’
While rumours surrounding Brand’s conduct have been swirling in the industry for some years, the comedian told the Sunday Times in a 2019 interview that the #MeToo movement was “a really positive change, it’s a sign of real awakening”. Asked specifically if in the light of the #MeToo movement there was anything in his sexual past that he now looks back on with regret, he said: “No”.
Before the latest allegations were published, Brand published a video statement denying a “litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks”.
“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,” he said. “Now, during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.”
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Management and charities ditch Brand
Brand’s former management company, Tavistock Wood, said it had severed all ties with the comedian. “Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him. TW has terminated all professional ties to Brand.”
Amnesty International, for which Brand performed in fundraising gigs in 2006 and 2012, urged women to come forward “if there is anything that they experienced at that time that is of concern”.
Trevi, a charity that supports mothers recovering from drug addiction which Brand supported, said it had “ended our association with Russell Brand and [his] Stay Free Foundation”.
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Who is supporting him?
The Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson – while not going so far as to defend him – said her first thought on reading about such claims “is to wonder why They are trying to silence the person”.
Brand was defended by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and the owner of Twitter, who responded to Brand’s preemptive denial by suggesting the mainstream media was fuelling the story because “they don’t like competition”. Andrew Tate, the misogynistic influencer facing rape and human trafficking charges in Romania, also sent a message of solidarity.
What else we’ve been reading
Alexis Petridis’ review of Bernie Taupin’s autobiography is a worthy tribute to a fabulously talented lyricist: “The familiarity of Elton John’s most famous songs blinds people to how good Taupin’s contributions were”. Toby Moses, head of newsletters
“Most adults with misophonia grew up with no idea about why they reacted the way they did to sounds,” says Dr Jane Gregory of the phenomenon whereby particular sounds can prove unbearable. “Many of us concluded we were batshit crazy.” Rupert
As a dedicated tap water drinker, it’s cheering to discover from Joel Snape that unless you have a severe magnesium or calcium deficiency, bottled mineral water is unlikely to offer much benefit. Toby
Kiran Stacey takes us inside the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), which has a staggering 800 staff helping advance the former PM policies in nearly 40 countries, and bringing in more than £65m-a-year in revenues. Rupert
Emma Beddington digs into one of the great mysteries of our age, who is throwing away perfectly good sandwiches in Magdeburg, Germany? If you haven’t encountered the story yet, take this as an opportunity to hop on board. Toby
Sport
Football | Arsenal won at Everton for the first time since 2017 thanks to a second-half strike from Leandro Trossard, pictured above celebrating with William Saliba. At the Vitality Stadium, Chelsea’s dismal start to the season continued with a 0-0 draw against Bournemouth.
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Rugby | England secured an ugly 34-12 victory over Japan in Nice, with their pivotal second-half try the result of a comedy of errors, the ball ricocheting off Will Stuart’s arm and Joe Marler’s head before falling into the path of Courtney Lawes with Japan having stopped playing in anticipation of a knock-on being called. Earlier in the day, Fiji beat Australia 15-22, their first victory over the Wallabies since 1954. South Africa had a more comfortable afternoon, crushing Romania 76-0, scoring four tries in the opening 12 minutes.
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F1 | Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz won a nail-biting Singapore grand prix, as he clung on from pole position to end Red Bull’s winning streak of ten-consecutive Max Verstappen victories, as the world champion elect finished in 5th place.
The front pages
The Guardian leads with “Unite launches ‘red wall push for more radical Labour policies” while the i splashes on “‘An open secret’: Russell Brand broadcasters face questions over ‘failures’” and the Times says “Brand faces more claims”.
The Mirror writes “Brand ‘predator claims’: what did TV chiefs know”?”, echoed by the Metro, which asks “Brand: what did TV bosses know?” while the Daily Telegraph headlines its story “BBC forced into urgent inquiry over Brand”.
The Daily Express splashes on “Russell Brand sex assault claims may be ‘tip of iceberg’” while the Daily Mail leads with “Letby may have murdered three more babies” and the top story in the Financial Times is “Labour government would seek to rewrite Brexit deal, Starmer pledges”.
Today in Focus
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The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Who better to ask for the secret to a serene life than Buddhist monk and author Matthieu Ricard, often labelled “the world’s happiest man”? Emma Beddington interviews Ricard, a French former genetic scientist, who relocated to India aged 21 in 1967, and became a monk six years later.
Ricard now spends his days meditating – and writing – on life and its meaning. Royalties from his books have allowed him to build the Karuna Shechen foundation, which funds education, healthcare and environmental projects in India, Nepal and Tibet. Ricard says their work helps about 400,000 people a year.
As to that secret to happiness? “Become a better human being to better serve others,” he concludes.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
