After the UK police charged actor and comedian Russell Brand with five counts of rape, the actor denied all allegations against him. He was officially charged with 1 count of rape, 1 count of indecent assault and oral rape, and 2 counts of sexual assault. These charges are based on incidents that took place between 2006 and 2013 and involved 4 women.
A member of the British Crown Protection Service, Jaswant Narwal stated that the prosecutors of the case sanctioned the UK police to charge Brand with these sexual offences.
Documentary that began the investigation into Brand’s behavior
Narwal revealed that the investigation into these charges began after a documentary by Channel 4 titled “Russell Brand: In Plain Sight” was released. In the documentary, Dispatches investigated Brand’s treatment of women. According to Variety, a representative of the show stated, “Five women, four of whom asked to remain anonymous, agreed to share their stories of serious sexual allegations in the program.”
Brand’s agency “Tavistock Wood” released a statement cutting off all ties with the actor. They stated that although Brand has always denied the allegations against him, they now believe they were “horribly misled by him”. Therefore, they reached the ultimate decision to not represent him anymore stating, “TW has terminated all professional ties to Brand.”
Russell Brand denies all allegations
In a video posted to his Instagram titled “My response”, Brand repeatedly denied all allegations against him. He initiated the video expressing his gratefulness for the support he received amidst the controversy.
Brand continued by expressing his frustration at the law and the abuse of power. He referred to the law as a “weapon to be used against people …. that will not accept levels of corruption.” He went on to question why other high-profile cases were not being tried in the court. Russell went as far as to name the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, asking why his case was not pursued.
Brand then directly addressed the charges filed against him. He stated, “I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile, but what I never was, was a rapist.”
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The comedian persistently refused to accept the allegations against him saying that he has never in his life engaged in non-consensual activity. He then pleaded with the public saying, “I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
Brand concluded his video by saying that he is going to fight these charges in court saying that he is “incredibly grateful” for the opportunity to clear his name. He is due to appear in front of the court on May 2nd.
The alleged victims
According to the Sunday Times, one of Brand’s victims who has chosen to stay anonymous reported repeated abuse during the course of their 3-month relationship. She revealed that she was 16 while Brand was in his 30s during their dating period. She further said that Brand repeatedly sexually assaulted her during those 3 months. She also claimed that he nicknamed her “the child”.
Another of Brand’s alleged victims revealed that she was raped by him in his home in LA in 2012. According to another woman, the same happened to her the following year at his West Hollywood home. She stated that the actor threatened her not to tell anyone or he would take legal action.
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It is also reported that Russell’s former assistant, Helen Berger revealed details of his treatment of women. She disclosed that she was a witness of him showing “intimate pictures of women” to his friends.
A fellow female comedian alleged that Brand would “bite (her) face” whenever they encountered each other. A male coworker of the comedian shared that the women working with Brand were constantly “warning each other about Russell” for a couple of years.
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