According to a joint investigation released Saturday by British media, Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse. The actor strongly disputes the charges.
An investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times, and Channel 4 uncovered the claims against the British performer.
“Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, while he was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4, and then an actor in Hollywood films,” The Times reported exclusively. “Others have levelled a variety of charges against Brand, including controlling, abusive, and predatory behaviour.”
On Friday, Brand delivered a video statement refuting the claims.
“Among this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I categorically deny,” he stated. Brand went on to say that he has always been upfront about his years of sexual promiscuity, and that all of his relationships “were absolutely always consensual.”
According to an accompanying piece released by The Times on the inquiry process, the Sunday Times initiated their enquiries into Brand’s behaviour in 2019 after the news organisation “was made aware of allegations against Russell Brand relating to his treatment of women.”
According to the Times, over the years, reporters interviewed “hundreds of sources who knew or worked with Brand: ex-girlfriends and their friends and family, comedians and other celebrities, people who worked with him on radio and TV, and senior staff at the BBC, Channel 4 and other media organisations.”
According to the media outlet, reporters “seen private emails and text messages, submitted freedom of information requests, viewed medical and therapists’ notes, scrutinised Brand’s books and interviews, and watched and listened to hundreds of hours of his shows on the BBC, Channel 4 and YouTube to corroborate allegations.”
Brand’s staff linked NPR to Brand’s video message in response to a request for comment.
Brand began his career as a stand-up comedian in the early 2000s and has acted in several TV series and films, including Get Him to the Greek and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He is the author of many best-selling books and the presenter of a web series and podcast called Stay Free with Russell Brand.
Brand has previously been accused of inappropriate sexual approaches. Dannii Minogue, an Australian star, alluded to his “sex addiction” in the Daily Mirror in 2006, calling him “a vile predator.”
Brand is presently on tour in the United Kingdom, with several of his performances selling out. NPR contacted forthcoming locations where the performer is scheduled to perform on Saturday and next Tuesday. The Wembley Park Theatre, which was supposed to host the event on Saturday, could not be contacted. However, a ticket office worker at the Theatre Royal Windsor, where Brand is set to perform on Tuesday, said that the concert is “still on,” but that this may change in the following days.
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