Russell Brand Addresses Bombshell Misconduct Allegations
Hours before The UK Times dropped a series of bombshell allegations against Russell Brand, the comedian took to his YouTube channel to try to get ahead of them.
In cooperation with The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, the publication posted the results of their joint investigation earlier this morning, Sept. 16, in which four different women accuse the Get Him to the Greek star of sexual assault, including one who was just 16 at the time, and 15 years his junior.
However, Brand, 48, addressed the allegations online yesterday, Sept. 15—approximately 16 hours before they were officially made public. The Times reports that they gave Brand over a week to issue a statement for their exposé.
In lieu of that, he took to his own YouTube account to speak his peace.
He shared with his followers that he had received messages from both a television company and a newspaper, which included "a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks." He noted that the lists included "some pretty stupid stuff," such as the suggestion that his community festival should be put to a stop and that he shouldn't be allowed to challenge mainstream media on his channel.
He continued, “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
Brand admitted that he was "very, very promiscuous" at the time the allegations take place, but asserted that every relationship he was in at the time was "absolutely always consensual," and that he was transparent about his promiscuity with his partners.
"To see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?" he continued, going on to suggest that he was the newest victim of a "coordinated media attack" as a result of his recent work criticizing mainstream media.
According to Brand, there is evidence out there which will "directly contradict" the accusations, though The Sunday Times requested Brand's lawyer to provide this evidence and received no response.
Assuring his fans that Brand and his team were going to "look into this matter," he begged them to "stay close, stay awake...[and] stay free," before signing off.
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