Russell Brand has been 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 them anonymous, were interviewed in the Dispatches documentary aired on Saturday night.
The Times titles said they contacted the media personality’s representatives with details of the allegations – as well as information to help him recall the incidents in question – in advance of its planned publication, giving them eight days to respond.
Brand’s lawyers initially claimed to be unable to do so, the papers reported, because of the “large litany of questions” and the decision to agree to the women’s requests to anonymise them.
Brand’s lawyers characterised the way in which the request for comment was made as part of a “pre-conceived strategy aimed at damaging their client”, according to the report. They added that he believed there was a “deeply concerning agenda to all this, namely the fact that he is an alternative media broadcaster competing with mainstream media”. The Sunday Times said Brand’s lawyers did not reply to further requests for comment.
It was after being given further opportunity to respond to the allegations that Brand decided to broadcast a statement online on Friday, the Sunday Times said. It added that it received no answer when the papers asked for the evidence Brand claimed contradicted their reporting.
According to the paper’s report, one of the women said Brand entered into a relationship with her while he was 31 and she was still a 16-year-old schoolgirl. She reportedly said he referred to her as “the child” during an alleged emotionally abusive and controlling three-month relationship.
She told Dispatches the presenter once “forced his penis down her throat”, making her choke, which led her to punch him in the stomach to make him stop.
Another woman alleged Brand raped her in 2012 in his Los Angeles home, the Sunday Times reported, adding that she received treatment at a rape crisis centre the same day.
The paper said she messaged him to say she had been scared by him and felt taken advantage of, adding: “When a girl say[s] NO it means no.” Brand reportedly replied saying he was “very sorry”, the paper reported.
The woman, who said she met him at an after party for his Brand X chatshow, told Dispatches she did not report the alleged rape to police due to being scared because of the actor’s fame.
A third woman said Brand sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles, and that he threatened to take legal action if she told anyone else about her allegation, the paper reported. A fourth woman described being “sexually assaulted” by Brand, and him being “physically and emotionally abusive” towards her, the Sunday Times said.
The paper said several others had accused Brand of physical and emotional abuse, sexual harassment and bullying, adding that those who had come forward did not know each other and had mostly chosen to remain anonymous.
The paper also reported that the woman who said she met Brand when aged 16 – whom it gave the pseudonym Alice – contacted Brand’s former agency Tavistock Wood in 2020 to alert them to his behaviour she had alleged, and seeking an apology.
She said she was promised a response when he returned from a wellness retreat. When one came, she said, it was from lawyers representing Brand, who issued a denial on his behalf, and accused her of seeking financial gain.
Television researchers and runners who worked on Channel 4 shows alleged that Brand would ask staff to approach young female audience members that he found attractive so he could meet them after filming.
Contacted on Saturday by the Guardian, Tavistock Wood said: “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.”
Sources also told the investigating journalists that Brand displayed concerning behaviour on several occasions during his time at the BBC, including one incident described as an “alarming display of aggression and disrespect”. The Sunday Times said sources had said Brand’s attitude towards women became what the paper termed an “open secret in radio and TV production”.
It also quoted Alice, who went on to work for Channel 4, as saying concerns were raised when it was proposed Brand would host a show. “The solution that was offered was that we would take the female staff off the crew – women that have worked hard to get into this industry – now can’t work on particular shows because of fear that they might be assaulted or harassed. I was in disbelief,” she told the paper.
Dispatches featured an interview Brand did on his BBC show with Jimmy Savile, who was posthumously exposed as a serial sexual abuser, where the pair discussed the possibility of Brand’s female assistant turning up naked to meet the DJ.
Brand had already moved to deny what he called “very serious criminal allegations” on Friday night. In a video posted online, he said he had received correspondence from a media company and a newspaper detailing the claims; this is standard practice for journalists preparing to report serious allegations about a named entity.
He issued his denial in a video posted across his accounts on several media platforms, insisting his relationships had always been consensual.
He portrayed the reports as a “litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks” and said they pertained to a period of his career when he was working “in the mainstream … As I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous [at that time].”
Brand continued: “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 am being transparent about it now as well.
“To see that transparency metastasised into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question: is there another agenda at play?”
On Saturday night Brand performed at the Troubadour Wembley Park theatre in London. He arrived almost an hour later than planned to perform his show Bipolarisation, after getting “stuck in traffic”. Opening his act to applause, he thanked the crowd and said: “There’s some things I cannot talk about and hopefully you appreciate that. I’m gonna give you everything I’ve got.”
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”.
The firm’s spokesperson said: “We are determined to understand the full nature of what went on. We have carried out extensive document searches and have found no evidence to suggest the alleged incidents were brought to the attention of Channel 4. We will continue to review this in light of any further information we receive, including the accounts of those affected individuals.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Russell Brand worked for a number of different organisations, of which the BBC was one. As is well known, Russell Brand left the BBC after a serious editorial breach in 2008 – as did the then controller of Radio 2.
“The circumstances of the breach were reviewed in detail at the time. We hope that demonstrates that the BBC takes issues seriously and is prepared to act.
“Indeed, the BBC has, over successive years, evolved its approach to how it manages talent and how it deals with complaints or issues raised.
“We have clear expectations around 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 come forward with any concerns, on any issue related to any individual working at the BBC, past or present.”
