In the latest Russell Brand news, the actor is now facing fresh allegations – just days after he was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.
The claims were made over the weekend following an investigation conducted by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches. Russell has denied the claims and insisted all his sexual interactions have been consensual.
Following the publication of the allegations, The Times claims it has been contacted by “several women” with further claims about Russell.
Russell Brand news: More women ‘come forward’
According to the The Times, the allegations concern Russell’s “behaviour since the early 2000s”. These new claims are yet to be investigated but will be “rigorously checked”, the report added.
It reads: “The Times and Sunday Times have been contacted by several women since Saturday with claims about Brand’s behaviour since the early 2000s.”
ED! has contacted Russell’s reps for comment.
What’s more, both the BBC and Channel 4 are facing accusations of not acting on the comedian’s behaviour over the years, which was alleged to be an “open secret” within the broadcasters.
However, both have now launched their own probes into the claims. The Met Police has also issued a statement.
BBC and Channel 4 issue statements
A spokesperson for the BBC told ED!: “The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years. Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.”
Meanwhile, Channel 4 told us: “Channel 4 is 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.
“We are determined to understand the full nature of what went on and 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.”
The spokesperson went on: “We have asked the production company who produced the programmes for Channel 4 to investigate these allegations and report their findings properly and satisfactorily to us. Channel 4 is also conducting its own internal investigation. We would encourage anyone who is aware of such behaviour to contact us directly.
“In the many years since the alleged incidents took place, there has obviously been extensive change in Channel 4’s management and commissioning teams. Today, Channel 4 has a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviour and has a robust Code of Conduct. We require all suppliers to have in place rigorous safeguarding policies and provide whistleblowing support, including Channel 4’s Speak Up facility.
“We will be writing to all our current suppliers reminding them of their responsibilities under our Code of Conduct. As we are committed to ensuring our industry has safe, inclusive and professional working environments.”
Met Police statement
A rep for the Met said: “We are aware of media reporting of a series of allegations of sexual assault. At this time, we have not received any reports in relation to this. If anyone believes they have been the victim of a sexual assault we would encourage them to contact police.”
Russel Brand accusations
The reported accusations against Brand come from several woman accusing him of rape, sexual assault and emotional and physical abuse. The incidents allegedly took place at the height of his fame when Brand himself confessed he was “very promiscuous”.
According to reports, the first woman claimed he raped her up against a wall at his home in Los Angeles. A second reportedly alleged he forced her, when she was aged 16, to perform oral sex. It is claimed he was 31 at the time. She says she punched him in the stomach to make him stop.
A third alleged victim claims to have worked with the comedian. She is said to claim he sexually assaulted her before threatening legal action if she spoke out. And a fourth woman has reportedly accused him of sexually assaulting her, as well as being emotionally and physically abusive.
Russell Brand speaks out
The comedian was quick to refute all of these claims. He said in a YouTube video that he denied a “litany” of allegations. Russell insisted his relationships were always consensual. He said: “I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters. One from a mainstream media TV company listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks.”
The married personality, who is expecting his third baby with wife Laura, went on: “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
He added: “These 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.
“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. And to see that transparency metastasised into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?”
Read more: Russell Brand’s pregnant wife standing by him amid sex assault allegations: ‘It isn’t easy’
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