Russell Brand Accused of Sexual Assault, Denies Claims
Four women have made sexual assault and abuse allegations against Russell Brand.
A joint investigation from the Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches in the UK reveals comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013. Based on that timeline, some of these alleged assaults would have occurred during his marriage to Katy Perry, which lasted from 2010 to 2012. Before the news broke, Brand attempted to get ahead of the accusations by releasing a video and denying the "very serious criminal allegations" made by four women.
"The relationships that I had were absolutely always consensual," Brand said. "I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent. And I'm being transparent about it now." He continued, "It's been clear to me, or at least it feels to me, like there's a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices ... I don't mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations."
One woman claims Brand raped her in his home in Los Angeles, and she was treated at a rape crisis center on the same day. Text messages show that she later told him that she had been scared and felt she had been taken advantage of. She wrote, "When a girl say[s] NO it means no." Brand texted back that he was "very sorry."
Another alleged victim says she was 16 years old when she was assaulted by Brand, who would have been 31 at the time. She says they had an emotionally abusive and controlling relationship that lasted three months. Another woman says Brand sexually assaulted her while they worked together while another claims she was sexually assaulted and abused by Brand. Most of the women are choosing to stay anonymous.
"I think he was very skillful in the start of making his identity be, 'I'm the womanizer. I'm a sex addict. I'm inappropriate but it's all just a joke, it's funny,'" one of the alleged victims shared. "It's a smokescreen for a lot more of his dark behavior."
A documentary about the accusations against Brand is being released today on Channel 4's Dispatches series. You can learn more details about the accusations against Brand in The Times article.
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