UK’S RUSSELL BRAND ACCUSED OF RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT: MEDIA

Sat 16 September 2023:

Russell Brand, a British actor and comedian, stated in a story published by The Times on Saturday that he “absolutely refutes” charges made by four women, one of whom was 16 at the time, of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse.

The newspaper reported that a list of charges against the 48-year-old was put together following an investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times, and broadcaster Channel 4. The allegations focus on incidents that allegedly happened between 2006 and 2013, according to the newspaper.

One woman claims she was raped by Brand at his Los Angeles home on an unspecified date. She was treated at a rape crisis center, the Times said, citing medical records. A text message exchange seen by the newspaper shows the woman telling Brand: “When a girl say[s] NO it means no.” Brand texted in response that he was “very sorry.”

Among the other allegations, a woman claims that she was involved in an abusive relationship with Brand when he was 31 and she was 16, during which he repeatedly referred to her as “the child.” On one occasion, the woman said that Brand once “forced his penis down her throat” and that he only stopped when she punched him in the stomach.

Russell Brand refute

On Friday, in advance of the publication of the allegations, Brand posted a video to YouTube and his various social media accounts to deny what he called a “litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks” against him, which he said were being made against him by a “mainstream media TV company” and a newspaper.

This is happening pic.twitter.com/N8zIKLbJN2

— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) September 15, 2023

“The relationships I had were absolutely always consensual,” Brand said, addressing a period in his life in which he said he was “very, very promiscuous” and that he has always been transparent about his past. “To see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, which I absolutely deny, makes me question: is there another agenda at play?”

The Times also wrote that they had given Brand and his legal team eight days to respond to the allegations. Lawyers representing Brand wrote that their client believed the claims to reflect “a deeply concerning agenda to all this, namely the fact that he is an alternative media broadcaster competing with the mainstream media.”

Responding to Brand’s video on X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk wrote: “Of course. They don’t like competition.”

Elsewhere in the video clip, Brand noted what he called “coordinated media attacks” against outspoken figures online such as Joe Rogan “when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn’t approve of.” Rogan said in 2021 that he was taking the deworming drug ivermectin to treat Covid-19.

Brand rose to fame as a stand-up comic in Britain in the early 2000s, which led to starring roles on Channel 4 and later BBC Radio, where he capitalised on a reputation for outrageous behavior and risque banter.

He was the host of chat show Big Brother’s Big Mouth, a spin-off of the popular reality series, for three years from 2004.

He later made the jump to Hollywood, appearing in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008 and the remake of Arthur in 2011. Brand was married to US pop star Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012.

In recent years, he transformed himself into a political commentator and influencer posting YouTube videos on subjects such as personal freedom and the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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