By Jessica Wedemeyer
2:35pm PDT, Sep 20, 2023
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On Sept. 16, two English outlets — the TV news station Channel 4 and the newspaper The Times — dropped bombshell reports alleging that five women have accused Russell Brand of sexually assaulting them between 2006 and 2013 — around the time he reached a career high after scoring his first major breakthrough in Hollywood with the 2008 comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which spawned the 2010 spin-off sequel he headlined, "Get Him to the Greek."
The actor-comedian was also married to Katy Perry — who's a decade younger than him — during that time: They tied the knot in late 2010 — less than a year after they got engaged following a whirlwind courtship of just a few months. They called it quits just 14 months later in late 2011. (He reportedly told her via text that he was filing for divorce.)
Now multiple women are opening up about their past experiences with the accused "sex offender."
Keep reading for more…
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According to TheWrap, The Times reports that during the height of his career, Russell Brand exhibited "controlling, abusive and predatory behavior" toward women.
Medical records indicate that one of his five accusers (the women do not know each other) was treated at a rape crisis center in Los Angeles the same day she alleges he raped her at his L.A. home. She also shared text messages in which she purportedly told the actor-comedian she was scared of him and felt that he'd taken advantage of her.
"When a girl says NO it means no," she reportedly texted.
The BAFTA Award-nominated comedian reportedly replied that he was "very sorry."
Keep reading for more allegations against the actor…
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According to TheWrap, British media outlets are reporting that one of Russell Brand's accusers was 16 — the legal age of consent in England — when the actor-comedian, who was 30 at the time, allegedly assaulted her. She reportedly told The Times that he was aware of her age — he once sent a car to pick her up from her high school, she claims — and referred to her as "the child" during their three-month involvement with one another.
"I don't give a f*** if you're 12. … I need to know where I stand legally," she claims he once told her.
She also alleges that he asked her to read the 1995 novel "Lolita" — which chronicles the sexual relationship between a middle-aged literature professor and his 12-year-old stepdaughter — and coached her on how to tell her parents about their relationship. (She initially tried to hide things from them and asked Russell to save her phone number under a fake name.)
"Russell engaged in the behaviors of a groomer, looking back, but I didn't even know what that was then, or what that looked like," she told The Times, adding that he was controlling and emotionally abusive.
She goes on to accuse him of forcing her to orally copulate with him, noting that she tried to push him off of her and even punched him in the stomach to get him to stop.
"I couldn't breathe. He was just choking me. I was crying and he said, 'Oh, I only want to see your mascara run anyway,'" she said in a video clip from the "Russell Brand: In Plain Sight" special released by "Channel 4 Dispatches" on Sept. 16. (The clip cuts to a bit from one of Russell's comedy routines in which he jokes about oral sex during which "the mascara runs a little bit.")
The woman alleges that Russell's management team knew about their relationship and advised him to avoid being seen with her in public.
Keep reading for more allegations against the actor…
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A third woman alleges that Russell Brand sexually assault her while they were working together in Los Angeles. She claims he threatened to pursue legal action against her if she ever told anyone about what happened between them.
A fourth woman, meanwhile, alleges the actor-comedian sexual assaulted her and abused her emotionally and physically.
One of the women — "Channel 4 Dispatches" obscured their faces and changed their voices to protect their privacy — detailed her assault, saying, "He's grabbing at my underwear, pulling it to the side. I'm telling him to get off me and he won't get off. [He's], like, holding me against the wall, pushing himself in me. … I was like, 'Oh my God, he raped me.'"
Said another woman, "He grabbed me and got me on the bed. I was fully clothed, and he was naked at this point. He held me down, and he was just aggressively trying to, you know, f*** me."
The Times reports that his behavior was an "open" secret among TV and radio executives and that female comedians would warn each other about him.
A crew member from one of Russell's shows reportedly said he felt like he had to serve as the actor-comedian's "pimp."
Keep reading for more…
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Russell Brand's accusers say they're speaking out now because they became disturbed by his growing popularity as a health and wellness influencer. In recent years, the actor-comedian has gained a following on YouTube for his controversial opinions on the global COVID-19 pandemic. (He's a covid denier and conspiracy theorist.)
"Russell seems untouchable," one of his alleged victims replied when asked why she's never addressed their history before.
The journalists who conducted the investigation into Russell's past reportedly spent more than a year interviewing hundreds of people who've interacted with him over the years — from ex-girlfriends and colleagues to fellow comedians and other celebrities — and reviewed emails, text messages, medical records and therapy records pertaining to his alleged predatory behavior. They also reviewed his old interviews, stand-up comedy routines and books to find consistencies between the allegations that are being made about him now and what he's said himself in the past.
Keep reading to see how Russell responded to the allegations…
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Russell Brand released a statement to Channel 4 news insisting that he's innocent and questioning the allegations against him.
"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'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, and to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny, makes me question, is there another agenda at play?" he said.
Added the actor-comedian, "What I seriously refuse are these very, very serious criminal allegations… There are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack."
He did not share the purported evidence proving his innocence.
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In the wake of the joint investigation into Russell Brand's behavior by the U.K.'s The Sunday Times and Channel 4 current affair show "Dispatches," The Times reported on Sept. 18 that "several women" had made fresh contact with the paper.
Further, London's Met Police announced that it had received a report from an alleged victim that the BBC noted appeared not to have been previously reported.
According to a Met Police spokesperson, "We are aware of reporting by The Sunday Times and Channel 4's 'Dispatches' about allegations of sexual offences. On Sunday, 17 September, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003. Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
"We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday, 16 September and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police. We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us."
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In the wake of sexual assault allegations, Russell Brand's September 2023 live stand-up comedy shows were pulled. A statement from the promoters released on Sept. 18 read, "We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we don't like doing it — but we know you'll understand."
The actor-comedian's book publisher, Bluebird, also made an announcement on Sept. 18, explaining, "These are very serious allegations and in the light of them, Bluebird has taken the decision to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand."
More fallout followed…
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On Sept. 19, YouTube — where Russell Brand had amassed more than 6.6 million subscribers as he cultivated a persona as a wellness and conspiracy influencer in recent years — announced that it had "suspended monetization" on the comedian's channel for violating its "creator responsibility policy." According to YouTube, "If a creator's off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community."
The same day, Britain's BBC followed Channel 4 and took down some of its TV and audio shows featuring Russell. "We've reviewed the content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations," a spokesperson for the BBC said.
