Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and physical and emotional abuse by five women … via a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and U.K. current affairs show Channel 4 Dispatches.
The British newspaper spoke with four of these alleged victims — one of whom says she was 16 at the time of the incident — in an article published on Saturday afternoon.
Brand is reported to have committed these heinous acts between 2006 and 2013 when he served as a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4, along with appearing in a number of high profile movies.
The outlet writes that one alleged victim said Brand assaulted her when she was 16 (he was then in his 30s) during a three-month “emotionally and sexually abusive” relationship that included one instance where he “forced his penis down her throat,” causing her to choke.
In another example, she claims he removed a condom during intercourse without her knowledge.
The woman also said Brand nicknamed her “the child,” asked her to read passages from Vladimir Nabokov novel “Lolita” during their time together and once kissed her mother “on the mouth.”
A second alleged victim told the publication she was raped by the comedian in his Los Angeles home in 2012 — while a third, who was working with him in Los Angeles, said he sexually assaulted her at his West Hollywood home in 2013 … threatening to take legal action if she ever spoke about the incident in public.
Others who spoke to the newspaper accused Brand of flashing his private parts to them; showing them intimate photos of other women; and one female comedian said Brand would repeatedly “bite” her face any time she saw him.
In a YouTube video titled “So, This Is Happening,” Brand has denied the allegations.
“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,” he said.
“And as I’ve 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.”
Brand was also married to Katy Perry from 2010 through 2012.
Added the actor in his self-defensive video:
“I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks.
“But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
Brand cited “witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives” of at least some of these claims, concluding as follows:
We are obviously going to look into this matter because it’s very, very, serious. In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free.