Friday evening Russell Brand posted an alarming video on social media. In it, he tried to get ahead of what he called “extremely egregious and aggressive attacks” he claimed were forthcoming. Brand didn’t go into specifics, but he said they involved his height-of-fame days when he admitted he was “very, very promiscuous.” However, he maintained the encounters were “absolutely, always consensual.”
On Saturday details of those allegations dropped.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, four women have formally accused Brand of sexually assaulting them between 2006 and 2013, in a joint investigative report by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches.
THR reports:
The first woman told the news outlets that Brand raped her against a wall in Los Angeles, where she was treated at a rape crisis center the same day. The investigation also found text messages between the woman and Brand. She messaged him, saying, “When a girl say[s] NO it means no.” The actor allegedly replied that he was “very sorry.”
Another woman alleged that the comedian assaulted her when he was 31, and she was 16. She explained that he called her “the child” during their emotionally abusive and controlling relationship that lasted for around three months. She claimed that he “forced his penis down her throat” and made her choke, only backing off when she punched him in the stomach.
A third woman told the outlets that Brand sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in L.A. and said he threatened to take legal action if she went public with what happened. The fourth woman also alleged the actor sexually assaulted her and was physically and emotionally abusive toward her.
In his pre-emptive video, Brand said that he was “always transparent about [his past behavior] then — almost too transparent — and I’m being transparent about it now as well.”
Brand, who’s leaned ever-rightward over the last few years, also denied claims that he was a “conspiracy theorist” or “right-wing” — while claiming that these accusations were part of a concerted effort to silence him.
“I’m aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while: ‘Watch out Russell, they’re coming for you. You’re getting too close to the truth. Russell Brand did not kill himself,’” Brand said, not getting into specifics about what “truth” he was unearthing or who “they” were. “It’s been clear to me, or at least it feels to me like, there’s a serious and concerted agenda to control these kinds of spaces and these kinds of voices, and I mean my voice along with your voice.”
This is happening pic.twitter.com/N8zIKLbJN2
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) September 15, 2023
(Via THR)