A new joint investigation conducted by the Times, the Sunday Times, and Channel 4 has resulted in serious allegations being made against Russell Brand. The comedian has been accused of committing nonconsensual sexual acts against four women between the years 2006 and 2013. Additional women made claims that Brand exhibited controlling behavior during consensual relationships. All women spoke anonymously, and Brand and his lawyers have denied all allegations.
The first woman alleges that Brand raped her in his Los Angeles home, and provided medical records indicating that she was treated at a rape crisis center at the same day.
Another woman claimed that Brand entered a sexual relationship with her when she was 16 years old (the age of consent in the U.K.) and he was 31. She alleges that he “forced his penis down her throat,” and engaged in manipulative behavior throughout the relationship, referring to her as “the child” and asking her to read passages from “Lolita” out loud to him.
Two other women leveled additional accusations of sexual assault, with one claiming that Brand threatened legal action against her if she ever spoke publicly about the incident.
Brand and his attorneys declined to comment on the initial article, claiming that the journalistic outlets’ “large litany of questions” and decision to allow the women to speak anonymously made collaboration impossible.
Once the article was published, Brand responded with a video titled “So, This Is Happening” that was posted on his YouTube and social media accounts. The comedian addressed the allegations directly and denied all claims of nonconsensual acts.
“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream media, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies,” Brand said. “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 being transparent about it now as well.”
