This past week, actor and podcaster Russell Brand took to social media to share a message with his followers. He stated that he received correspondence from media outlets regarding “egregious” and “aggressive” assertions about his character. While he didn’t get too specific at the time, he denied any wrongdoing on his part. He also voiced his disdain over seeing his “transparency” get "metastasized into something criminal.” Now, Brand finds himself at the center of an investigation, and he's been accused of sexual assault and abuse by multiple women.
The allegations are part of an investigation that was jointly conducted by the Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, per the BBC. This comes only a day after the entertainer shared a video to X, in which he shot down claims. Per their findings, five women have come forward with allegations against the media personality, with four having accused the stand-up comic of sexually assaulting them. These alleged occurrences reportedly took place while the now-48-year-old star was on the rise in Hollywood and working for the BBC and other entities between 2006 and 2013.
According to the report, one of the ladies says Russell Brand raped her in his home in Los Angeles, and she was later treated at a rape center as a result. The Times also says it has medical records that corroborate the claim. Another woman asserted that she was sexually assaulted by Brand when they worked together in LA and was threatened to not take legal action after the fact. The third reported victim said he assaulted her and was also physically and emotionally abusive.
Finally, a fourth woman, alleges that the actor raped her while she was 16 and still in school. It’s said that at the time, he was in his 30s and purportedly referred to her as “the child” during their reported relationship, which was referred to as “emotionally and sexaully abusive.” That same woman also claimed that in one instance, Brand “forced his penis down her throat.”
When addressing the situation in the video shared on Friday, the entertainer said that the allegations were connected to his days of “promiscuity” at the height of his career. He further stated that in the past, he’s been open about having had intimate relationships with a sizable number of people. However, in this most recent clip, he stresses that they were all "consensual":
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 that 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.
During the timespan listed by the report, Russell Brand was indeed a highly sought-after commodity in the entertainment industry. He landed roles in major movies, such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, (its spinoff) Get Him to the Greek, Despicable Me and Rock of Ages. He even led the Arthur remake, which starred Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren and Jennifer Garner. Amid that time, Brand also hosted Saturday Night Live.
His personal life was also a topic of speculation during that period of time, and that was in part due to his highly publicized relationship with Katy Perry. After the two started dating in 2009, they tied the knot in 2010. They ultimately dissolved the marriage in 2012 and rumors later circulated in regard to the details, with some even claiming the actor requested the divorce via a text message. Nevertheless, he’s since said he enjoyed being married and at one point, claimed he’d been working to forge healthy relationships.
Neither Russell Brand nor his representatives have provided further comment on this matter, and the same is true of the news outlets that shared the alleged sexual assault and abuse claims. This is a developing situation, and only time will tell what happens moving forward.
