Russell Brand 'groomed schoolgirl, 16, and had script for her to lie to parents'

16 September 2023 , 22:02

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Russell Brand allegedly encouraged Alice, 16, to lie to her parents

One of the alleged victims of sexual assault by Russell Brand has revealed how he 'groomed' her and helped her to lie and 'drive a wedge' between herself and her parents.

The story comes from a woman who alleges she was assaulted and attacked by Brand when she was 16 and at school, and the comedian was 31.

The story comes from a combined investigation between Channel 4 Dispatches, The Sunday Times and The Times and highlights Brand's behaviour to women. It includes accounts by four women have raised allegations including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse., with the incidents taking place between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame.

In response to the claims, Brand has denied all allegations and said all his relationships have always been consensual.

Alice (name changed) alleges she and Russell Brand had a sexual relationship when the comedian was 31 and she was 16, and still in school

As part of the alleged claims against Brand, one woman (who has been renamed Alice to protect her identity) has alleged that the comedian used to send a car to pick her up from school and take her out of lessons during their relationship. Alice, who was 16 at the time, recalls losing her virginity to Brand and how he became "preoccupied" with her being innocent and pure.

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Alice told how Brand would allegedly help her to manipulate her parents so she could see him. Speaking in the Channel 4 Dispatches programme she recalls: "Russell behaved in the behaviours of a groomer. But back then I didn't even know what that looked like. He would try to drive a wedge between me and my parents, taught me to lie to them. I was at my dad's house and it was 11pm at night, Russell texted me saying 'I need to see you. I'm really upset, I need to see you' and I said 'I can't, it's too late".

"He came up with this scenario where my friend was ill. He made me do these roleplay conversations with him, where he would go 'Ok I'm going to be your dad and you be you'. He'd correct me as we went along, and say 'You can't say that cos your Dad is going to say this'. He had a whole script for me."

Alice also recalled how he would allegedly send her messages at the beginning of their relationship, which she described as "overwhelming". She said: "It was overwhelming but I did feel like I liked it. I felt a bit giddy. I felt special. I woke up to messages from him saying that he dreamt that we were married and how happy it made him."

Russell Brand denies all allegations and said his relationships have all been consensual

In response to the allegations raised by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4, Brand has denied all allegations and has said his relationships have all been consensual. He 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."

If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999.

Niamh Spence