Russell Brand Just Responded to ‘Serious’ Rape Claims From His ‘Promiscuous’ Past
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Trigger warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual violence. Russell Brand responded to rape allegations in a new video shared on social media, denying what he called “very serious criminal” claims ahead of a recent report by The Sunday Times.
According to The Sunday Times, the British comedian, 48, has been accused of sexual assault by four women between 2006 and 2013. The report, which was published following a joint investigation with The Times of London and the U.K. network Channel 4’s documentary team “Dispatches,” details claims of “rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse” allegedly carried out by Brand. A 90-minute documentary on the allegations, titled Russell Brand: In Plain Sight is set to air on Channel 4 on September 16, 2023, at 9 p.m. GMT. “Five women, four of whom asked to remain anonymous, agreed to share their stories of serious sexual allegations in the program,” a rep for the show said, per Variety.
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The accusers, who remain anonymous in the Times’ report, shared their experiences of varying degrees of alleged sexual, emotional, and physical abuse by Brand. One women alleged that Brand raped her against a wall at his home in Los Angeles. According to the Times, she was treated at a rape crisis center later that day and sent the comedian text messages telling him that she felt he had taken advantage of her. “When a girl say[s] NO it means no,” one alleged text read, to which Brand purportedly replied that he was “very sorry.”
A second woman claims that she was only 16 years old when she was assaulted by Brand, who was 31 years old at the time. During their relationship, which lasted about three months, she said he referred to her as “the child” and asked her to read passages from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel, Lolita, which follows a predatory relationship between a middle-aged man and a 12-year-old girl. The woman also alleged that Brand once “forced his penis down her throat” until she choked, and had to punch him in the stomach to make him stop.
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A third woman alleged that he sexually assaulted her when they worked together in Los Angeles. According to the woman, Brand threatened to take legal action against her if she spoke up about her experience. The fourth woman also claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand, and described the actor as being both physically and emotionally abusive during their relationship.
Russell Brand’s response to rape allegations
Ahead of the Time’s report, Brand took to social media on September 15, 2023, to share that he “absolutely refutes” the claims being made against him, describing the allegations as “extremely egregious and aggressive attacks.”
“I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks,” he said at the start of a nearly three-minute long video. “But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
The comedian, who first found fame as a host on MTV U.K., went on to address the timeline of the allegations. He characterized his relationships with his accusers as “consensual,” having taken place during a period of time of “promiscuity.”
“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,” he shared. “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.”
He continued, “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.”
The actor then went on to suggest that his “voice” has never been fully accepted by mainstream media, and speculated that these allegations are part of a larger agenda against him. While he did not name the Times or Channel 4 explicitly, he called out media entities for using his experiences to “attack” him.
“I don’t mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous, consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very, serious criminal allegations,” he went on to add. “Also, it’s worth mentioning that 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.”
While Brand didn’t dive any deeper into the claims being made against him due to their “serious nature,” he did make his stance clear. “I feel like I’m being attacked and plainly they are working very closely together,” he shared.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, free and confidential help is available. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
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