Russell Brand has been accused of sexual misconduct by four women who knew him over a seven-year period during the peak of his fame, according to a joint report from three British news organizations: The Sunday Times, The Times of London, and Channel 4's Dispatches. The allegations include claims of rape, sexual assault, and abuse between 2006 and 2013, with one woman alleging phyiscal and emotional abuse.
A woman identified as "Alice," who said she was 16 at the time, claimed that she was "groomed" during her three-month emotionally abusive relationship with Brand. When Brand allegedly became aware that Alice was a virgin, he reportedly became obessed with her purity and referred to her as his "baby." The relationship came to an end when Brand allegedly engaged in a violent sexual assault. Alice reportedly punched him in the stomach and cried.
"I knew at that point that he didn't care about hurting me physically or emotionally," said Alice to the U.K. reporters. "It shouldn't take you having to punch someone and to wind them to get them off you. It shouldn't be a physical fight."
In a video posted on Instagram a day before the news orgs published their reports, Brand denied the allegations stating, "Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute."
He continued, "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 have 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 am being transparent about it now as well," he added.
Brand then suggested the allegations might be part of a coordinated effort to discredit him. "Also, it's worth mentioning that there are witnesses who's 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," he said.
In the recent past, Brand has voiced his skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines and has done interviews with controversial figures like Joe Rogan.
Russell Brand rose to fame as a stand-up comedian in the U.K. He eventually landed major Hollywood roles in films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. Brand was briefly married to Katy Perry from 2010 to 2011.
In light of the accuastions, a 2013 Vogue interview with Perry resurfaced on social media. "At first when I met him he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they're like, I can't handle the equalness," she told the magazine at the time. "He didn't like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting."
She continued, "I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can't necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day. I let it go and I was like: This isn't because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that."
