Police urge 'sexual assault victims' to come forward after Russell Brand TV show

16 September 2023 , 23:06

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Russell Brand is accused of rape and grooming a girl of 16 (Image: PA)

Police have urged alleged victims to come forward as Russell Brand is accused of rape and grooming a girl of 16 in a series of allegations which emerged on Saturday.

The actor and comedian has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse during a seven-year period. Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame, working for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 as well as starring in Hollywood films.

He also faces allegations of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour, following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. Brand vehemently denies the allegations and in a video posted online on Friday, stated all of his relationships have been consensual, before accusing the media of a "co-ordinated attack".

Russell Brand appeared on stage on Saturday night despite the allegations as crowds cheered him

In the clip, the 48-year-old claimed he was facing a "litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks". He appeared as scheduled at the 2,000-capacity Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in north-west London to perform a sold-out comedy gig on Saturday evening.

A Met Police spokesperson has now urged victims to come forward. They said: "We are aware of media reporting of a series of allegations of sexual assault. At this time, we have not received any reports in relation to this. If anyone believes they have been the victim of a sexual assault, no matter how long ago it happened, we would encourage them to contact police."

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Appearing on Loose Women on ITV in 2018

The allegations include one woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand during a three-month relationship when she was 16 and still at school. The woman described his behaviour towards her as "grooming" as he would allegedly provide her with scripts on how to deceive her parents into allowing her to visit him.

Another woman alleges that Brand raped her at his Los Angeles home, while a third claims that Brand sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles and threatened to take legal action if she told anyone of the allegation. A fourth woman claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand and alleges that he was physically and emotionally abusive towards her.

Russell's gig at Wembley went ahead as planned (Roger Askew/Oxford Union/REX/Shutterstock)

In his video statement, posted online ahead of the publication of the claims, Brand 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."

He continued: "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."

Douglas Patient