This article mentions rape, abuse, and sexual assault.
On Saturday, British TV network Channel 4 aired a 90-minute special of their award-winning series Dispatches, with the extended episode investigating allegations of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse against comic Russell Brand.
The youngest alleged victim, who uses the pseudonym ‘Alice,’ claims that she was just 16 years old when she was assaulted by Russell. Alice says that Russell would send a car to pick her up from school and take her to his home. She alleges that they had an “emotionally and sexually abusive” relationship that lasted three months.
Another woman, ‘Nadia,’ has accused Russell of raping her after he convinced her to go over to his house late at night. Details from Nadia’s visit to a rape treatment center after the attack are shared in the documentary, as well as a text that Russell allegedly sent her soon afterwards.
A third alleged victim, ‘Phoebe,’ claims that she initially had a consensual relationship with Russell that turned into friendship. However, she says that one day she went to his home to collect items that she’d left there and he “started chasing” her while naked.
Elsewhere in Dispatches, other women came forward to say that they were made to feel like “pimps” when they worked with Russell as they’d apparently be ordered to deliver notes from him to young audience members so that he could meet them after filming. One of these women claimed: “They were all over 18 but all under 22.”
Fellow comic Daniel Sloss also went on the record with claims that Russell’s behavior was an open secret on the comedy circuit, and that women comedians set up groups to warn each other about people in the industry that they needed to avoid. Daniel added: “I know for many, many years that women have been warning each other about Russell.”
Amid all of the allegations, Dispatches resurfaced some troubling clips from Russell’s TV and radio career that show him joking about his promiscuity and the way that he mistreats women.
“I was like, ‘oh my god, he raped me’”
A woman shares her story about her experiences with Russell Brand with @C4Dispatches in a joint investigation with @thetimes.
Brand denies all accusations including rape, sexual assault and controlling and emotionally abusive behaviour. pic.twitter.com/XtNV5s91gk
— Channel 4 Dispatches (@C4Dispatches) September 16, 2023
Twitter @C4Dispatches / Channel 4 / Universal Pictures / Via Twitter: @C4Dispatches
Since Dispatches aired just three days ago, many other moments from Russell’s career have resurfaced online. Here is everything that has emerged so far.
Russell has released two memoirs over the years, My Booky Wook in 2007, and My Booky Wook 2: This Time It’s Personal three years later.
In the same book, Russell confesses to spitting in an exotic dancer’s face because he “felt very strongly” that he “needed to avenge” the fact that she’d slapped him after they’d had sex.
In My Booky Wook 2, Russell claims that the radio controller at the BBC show that he worked for, Lesley Douglas, was “incredibly tolerant” of his behavior as he suggests that he would have sex with the radio show’s competition winners in the disabled toilet at the studio.
Elsewhere in the same memoir, Russell tells readers: “What kind of man was I? Treating women in this way? If this is what I’m telling you, can you imagine what’s being left out?”
Speaking to the Mirror, Dannii said that Russell had attempted to flirt with her throughout an interview on his show 1 Leicester Square and later chased her down a corridor to demand her phone number.
Russell’s 2012 interview with Australian TV journalist Liz Hayes has also resurfaced online, with the comic grabbing her and kissing her on the lips as their segment for 60 Minutes came to an end.
Twitter @tallyman2023 / Seven Network / Via Twitter: @tallyman2023
In the footage, Liz tries to remain professional but is visibly shocked by Russell’s kiss, he then uses both arms to hold onto her and puts his hand on her back while joking about unhooking her bra.
