Russell Brand Accused of Rape, Sexual Assault in New Report
Four women — including one who was just 16 at the time — have accused actor-comedian Russell Brand of sexual assault and rape in a new report.
The allegations against Brand were brought forth in both an article by The Times UK as well as an episode of the Channel 4 investigative show Dispatches that is set to air Saturday night in the U.K.
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The accusations span a seven-year period from 2006 to 2013, during which time Brand was married to singer Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012.
Among the most serious allegations involves a woman who – at the time of her three-month relationship with the then-31-year-old Get Him to the Greek star – was allegedly 16 years old. According to the woman, Brand was “emotionally and sexually abusive” during their time together, and one point “forced his penis down her throat,” causing her to choke. She also claimed that Brand — who referred to her as “the child” — asked her to read passages of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.
Another woman came forward with an accusation that Brand raped her in his Los Angeles home in 2012, while a third woman said she was sexually assaulted by Brand, who then threatened her with legal action if she ever went public with the encounter.
Before the article published and the episode premiered, Brand turned to social media Friday to post a video where he preemptively defended himself against forthcoming “extremely egregious and aggressive attacks” that he “absolutely refutes.”
“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,” Brand said in the video.
“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.”
Brand, who in recent years pivoted from acting and comedy to podcasting about anti-vax and conspiracy theories, continued, “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. 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.”
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