A top British politician on Monday urged police to investigate sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand, as entertainment industry figures faced questions over whether the comedian’s bad behavior went unchallenged because of his fame.
Brand denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and in The Times and Sunday Times newspapers. The accusers, who have not been identified, include one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16 years old. Another woman says Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.
Brand, 48, rejected all the claims and said in a video statement that their relationships were “always consensual.”
The Times said Monday that more women had contacted the newspaper with allegations against Brand and that they would be “rigorously monitored.”Elon Musk supports Russell Brand’s theory that the media created these accusations Photo: X/@rustyrockets
Conservative lawmaker Caroline Nokes, who chairs the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, urged police in both Britain and the United States to investigate the “incredibly shocking” allegations.
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“This deserves and needs a criminal investigation because for too long we have seen men – and the perpetrators of these types of crimes are almost invariably men – not be held accountable for their behavior and actions,” he told BBC radio.
London’s Metropolitan Police said it would speak to the Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure “any crime victims they have spoken to know how they can report any criminal allegations to the police.”
The claims have renewed debate about the “lad culture” that flourished in Britain in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the misogyny that still permeates the internet.
The allegations reported by newspapers and Channel 4 cover the period between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was a major star in Britain with a rising profile in the United States.
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Known for his wild and risqué routines, he hosted radio and television shows, wrote memoirs chronicling his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in several Hollywood films and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012.
Brand was suspended by the BBC in 2008 for making lewd jokes at “Fawlty Towers” actor Andrew Sachs in which he bragged about having had sex with Sachs’s granddaughter. He quit his radio show after the incident, which generated thousands of complaints to the publicly funded station.
The BBC, Channel 4 and the production company behind the “Big Brother” reality series, whose spin-offs were presented by Brand, say they have launched investigations into Brand’s behavior and how complaints were handled.
In recent years, Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built a large following online with videos that mix wellness and conspiracy theories. Her YouTube channel, which has more than 6 million subscribers, includes COVID-19 conspiracies, vaccine misinformation, and interviews with right-wing hosts including Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan.
He also continues to tour as a comedian, performing for hundreds of people at a London venue on Saturday night while the Channel 4 documentary was broadcast.
(with information from AP)
