20 November 2023 , 14:08
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Broadcast regulator Ofcom will not be taking complaints claiming Channel 4’s investigation into Russell Brand was unfair on the comedian any further.
Allegations were made about comedian Brand, 48, during Channel 4's explosive Dispatches documentary in September, which came from a joint investigation with The Times and Sunday Times. He was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse - with the incidents allegedly taking place between 2006 and 2013. Brand strongly denies all the allegations made against him.
Following the Dispatches special first being broadcast on Saturday 16 September, Ofcom received 183 complaints that the Channel 4 programme was "materially misleading". Another seven complaints were made the following day when the documentary was aired again.
Russell Brand denied the allegations made against him prior to Dispatches premiering (PA)"The majority of complainants felt the programme was unfair to Russell Brand," Ofcom said in September following the complaints. The broadcasting watchdog has since offered an update on the situation. In a new bulletin released today [November 20], Ofcom said that "after careful assessment" it has decided not to follow up the complaints further as "they did not raises issues warranting investigation".
An Ofcom spokesperson told the Mirror today: "We carefully assessed complaints from viewers about this documentary, some of whom found the description of alleged sexual assaults distressing and others who questioned the testimony of those who appeared in the programme. Taking into account the clear and repeated warnings about the nature of the content, the support services signposted to viewers and the significant public interest in covering issues such as these, we will not be pursuing these complaints further.”
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Hours before Dispatches aired in September, Brand took to YouTube to release a statement claiming there were "serious allegations" made against him, which he "absolutely refutes" and strongly denies. He described the allegations as a "coordinated attack" against him.
Addressing his millions of followers ahead of the broadcast, Brand said: "I've received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email. One from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel.
"But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, often very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. 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've 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'm being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?"
If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999*