Russell Brand bragged about “planting one” on Meghan Markle for a movie they starred in together in an interview from 2018.
During an appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, days before Markle’s wedding to Prince Harry, Brand was asked by host Andrea McLean if it was true he had “snogged” her.
“As a matter of fact it is,” Brand replied. “But let me say before you get carried away with it. It’s because she was in a film that I was in, Get Him To The Greek.”
Brand explained that he didn’t know who Markle was at the time because she “wasn’t married to a royal person” so he “wasn’t paying attention”.
He added: “I don’t remember the film that much because I was still out of it. I think I planted one on her. It was scripted in a scene. I only know this because I think I saw a clip of it somewhere. So Meghan Markle, there we go.”
Get Him To The Greek, which starred Brand and Jonah Hill, is a spin-off sequel to 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film featured a number of guest stars, including Markle in an uncredited role, Christina Aguilera, Lars Ulrich and Pink.
The resurfaced clip comes after Brand was accused of rape and sexual assault by four women between 2006 and 2013. The allegations were brought to light in a joint investigation conducted by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.
Brand denied the allegations in a video, where he said all of his relationships were consensual.
“Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute,” he said. “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.
“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. To see that transparency metastasised into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question – is there another agenda at play?”
Channel 4 and the BBC have both opened investigations into Brand. The former has also removed all content featuring the comedian from its streaming service.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.