The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that it has launched an investigation after receiving claims of sexual assault alleged to have been committed by Russell Brand.
Earlier this month the comedian, TV host, actor and wellness guru was accused of rape and sexual assaults that were alleged to have taken place between 2006 and 2013. Brand has denied all allegations. No arrests have been made.
Met Police said (via Metro) that it has received “a number of allegations of sexual assault in London” following news reports about Brand.
The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches reported in a joint investigation published on September 16 that one woman has alleged that she was raped by Brand, while three others have accused him of sexual assault. One of the women also claimed that Brand had been physically and emotionally abusive.
However, since that initial publication, a separate alleged sexual assault that happened in 2003 was reported to the Met (via BBC News), and a number of more alleged victims have come forward over recent days.
The Met has also received a number of allegations of sexual offences committed outside of London and said that it will investigate these. These offences are all non-recent.
Officers will be offering specialist support to all of the women who have made allegations.
The investigation is being carried out by detectives in the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command, led by Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy.
Superintendent Furphy said: “We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us.
“We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take and I want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support.”
To date, there have been no arrests and enquiries continue.
Anyone who wants to report an offence should contact police on 101 but dial 999 in an emergency.
Meanwhile, a woman has accused Brand of exposing himself to her and then laughing about it minutes later on his BBC Radio 2 show.
The woman, who remains anonymous, claimed that the incident occurred in 2008 when she was working in the same building as the BBC in Los Angeles.
Minutes later, Brand was recorded laughing about the encounter, with his co-presenter saying that the comedian “showed his willy to a lady”.
Brand has not yet responded to the latest allegation. His co-presenter Matt Morgan told the BBC he was “not aware until now of the nature of this encounter”.
So… pic.twitter.com/UXxQqQukDb
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) September 22, 2023
Over the weekend Brand posted a new video addressing a “distressing week” following allegations of rape, sexual assault and controlling behaviour.
The star had already denied what he termed “very serious criminal allegations” in a video that was released on September 15. In the video, Brand insisted that his relationships have always been consensual.
He said in the latest video posted on Rumble, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: “Obviously it has been an extraordinary and distressing week and I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that you have been presented with.
“By now you are probably aware that the British government have asked big tech platforms to censor our online content and that some online platforms have complied with that request.”
He said that it had been done in the “context of the Online Safety Bill” in the UK, which he said “grants sweeping surveillance and censorship powers” in the UK. Earlier this week, the bill passed all its parliamentary stages but as yet, has not received royal assent so is not yet UK law.
Brand also addressed the news initiative, a partnership between media groups designed to address disinformation. “The trusted news initiative is a collaboration between big tech and legacy media organisations to target, control, choke and shut down independent media organisations like this one,” he said.
The comedian didn’t directly address any of the claims made against him. He went on to say he would continue to speak about subjects such as “deep state and corporate collusion” and how “big pharma” influences government policy.