Russell Brand accused of rape and sexual assault by four women
British actor and comedian Russell Brand has been accused of rape and sexual assault by four women in a string of allegations launched against him in a recent dispatch. One of the alleged victims was also only 16-years-old at the time.
The accusations have come to light following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches after rumours circulated among comedy circles regarding Brand’s character and sexual history.
One of the incidents documented in the report came from a woman referred to as Nadia who said she was raped by Brand at her home in 2012. Following the sexual assault, Nadia attended the Rape Treatment Center (RTC) at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center.
She provided The Times with medical records, and several pieces of physical evidence that were frozen for posterity at the time of the supposed attack. She also reported the incident to the police but later decided not to press charges, citing that “she was worried that, if her assailant’s name is somehow released, then her name will be dragged through the dirt.”
A text was also shared by Nadia from Brand in response to her saying no means no, which read: “I’m very sorry… I will make this up to you somehow with live [sic] and kindness. Not my original idea which was more sex. You’ve been lovely to me and I’m embarrassed by my behavior.”
Nadia’s situation was also heavily mirrored by a third woman called Phoebe, who claimed that she was assaulted by Brand in 2013 at his home in Los Angeles, but she didn’t pursue her allegation after Brand threatened her with legal action.
The earliest accusation came from 2006, when Brand was reportedly dating a 16-year-old referred to as Alice, while he was 30. Alice claims that they had a three month relationship together and Brand was “abusive” throughout, exhibiting ”grooming” behaviour, and coaching her on what to say to her parents.
Alice claimed that Brand would instruct her to read passages from Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, a book about a relationship with an underage girl, and he also referred to her as a “child”. Alice says this culminated in a sexual assault. She also says that Brand’s management were aware, and instructed the comedian not to be seen in public with her.
These reports were also corroborated by various assistants who had worked with Brand and witnessed inappropriate behaviour, as well as his ex-partner, Jordan Martin, who made allegations against him in her 2014 memoir, kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity.
Brand has denied all the accusations. “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, and as I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous,” he said in a video statement.
Adding: “Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well.”
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