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Russell Brand Accused of Sexually Assaulting Actress in New Lawsuit in US
Russell Brand Accused of Rape, Sexual Assaults and Abuse
Brand has denied all the allegations against him and insists that all of his sexual relationships have been consensual.
The allegations from four women – including one who claimed she was just 16 when she was “groomed” by the comedian – have emerged as part of an investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches and The Sunday Times.
BBC 17 SEP 2023
Schoolgirl, 16, 'Groomed by Brand'
A 16-year-old claims she was groomed by Brand, who also had 'scripts' so she could lie to her parents.
The alleged victim who used the alias Alice told Dispatches:
"Russell behaved in the behaviours of a groomer. But back then I didn't even know what that looked like. He would try to drive a wedge between me and my parents, taught me to lie to them. I was at my dad's house and it was 11pm at night, Russell texted me saying 'I need to see you. I'm really upset, I need to see you' and I said 'I can't, it's too late".
"He came up with this scenario where my friend was ill. He made me do these roleplay conversations with him, where he would go 'Ok I'm going to be your dad and you be you'. He'd correct me as we went along, and say 'You can't say that cos your Dad is going to say this'. He had a whole script for me."
Russell Brands' statement in full
In response to the allegations, here is Russell Brand's statement in full:
He said: "Now, this isn't the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story, I am the news. 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, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel. But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, often very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.
"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? Particularly when we've seen coordinated media attacks before, like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn't approve of, and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language."
He added: "I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, watch out, Russell. They're coming from you. You're getting too close to the truth. Russell Brand did not kill himself. I know that a year ago there was a spate of articles.
"Russell Brand’s a conspiracy theorist, Russell Brand’s right wing. I'm aware of news media making phone calls, sending letters to people I know for ages and ages. It's being clear to me, or at least it feels to me like there's a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices. And I mean, my voice along with your voice. I don't mind them using my books and my standout to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past."
He concluded in his two and a half minute statement: "What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations. Also, it's worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack.
"Now, I don't wanna get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I'm being attacked and plainly they're working very closely together. We are obviously going to look into this matter 'cause it's very, very serious. In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free."
While on stage at the Troubador Theatre, he told the crowd of 2,000: "I really appreciate your support. I love you. I want to do a fantastic show for you. I've got a lot of things to talk to you about. There are obviously some things that I absolutely can not talk about - and I appreciate that you will understand."
Channel 4 Responds to Allegations
During his career, Russell Brand achieved prominence as host of Big Brother's spin-off show Big Mouth for three years until 2007 on Channel 4.
In a statement, Channel 4 said: "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.
"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."
Police Urge Victims of Sexual Assault to Come Forward
Police have urged alleged victims to come forward as Russell Brand is accused of rape and grooming a girl of 16 in a series of allegations which emerged on Saturday.
A Met Police spokesperson 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, no matter how long ago it happened, we would encourage them to contact police."
Russell's former PA says he was always in his underwear when she was at work
"I literally looked in my bag and found the schedule and I said 'Russell' and I showed him the picture of his face and he looked at me, he smiled and he's like 'You get me'. It was just non-stop and not to mention, a very active sex addiction."
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