Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse over a seven-year period while he was at the height of his fame.
Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, while the comedian and actor also faces allegations of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour after a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
Brand strongly denies the allegations and in a video posted online on Friday said he had been “very very promiscuous” but all of his relationships had been “absolutely, always consensual”.
Here is a timeline of the allegations made against Brand:
2006
A woman claims Brand sexually assaulted her during a three-month relationship in 2006 when she was 16 and still at school, and Brand, then aged 30, was a BBC radio presenter and host of Big Brother’s Big Mouth.
She told the Sunday Times they had met when Brand approached her in Leicester Square after she had been shopping, and proceeded to go through her shopping bags and critique her purchases. She said he took out a dress and said: “You’re going to wear this on our date this week.”
She claims she told her mother, who advised her to text Brand and tell him her age, but that he was undeterred, and on the date asked her to confirm she was 16.
The woman said that over the following weeks, Brand referred to her as “the child” and she alleged that he was controlling, and sexually and emotionally abusive. She said he sent a car to her secondary school to take her out of lessons and asked her to save his name as “Carly” in her phone to deceive her parents. He also allegedly gave her “scripts” on how to lie to her parents, and advised her to hide the relationship from her friends, describing the experience as “isolating”.
The woman and a family member described Brand’s behaviour to the Sunday Times as grooming.
2007
Jordan Martin alleges Brand sexually assaulted her and was physically and emotionally abusive towards her during a six-month relationship from February 2007.
She claims he assaulted her at the Lowry hotel in Manchester when he became angry after finding out she had spoken to an ex-boyfriend, and ripped her phone case apart to pull out the battery, before touching her sexually. She said she was “not ready for this intrusion” and did not find it pleasant.
Martin made the allegations in a book published in 2014. She declined to be interviewed by the investigative reporters, but she told the Sunday Times she stood by her account. Brand denies all of the allegations made by the Sunday Times, but he has never challenged the content of the book.
2012
A woman alleges that Brand raped her against a wall at his Los Angeles home in July 2012 after she refused to join him in sexual activity with “a friend” of Brand. She alleges that she told Brand to get off her and that she wanted to leave, but he carried on and briefly blocked the door to prevent her from leaving afterwards.
She told the Sunday Times she was treated at a Rape Treatment Centre that same day, and had therapy treatment there for five months. Records seen by the Sunday Times show she contemplated criminal or civil proceedings but ultimately decided against it.
After the incident, Brand sent her text messages apologising for what happened and describing his behaviour as “crazy and selfish”. It happened the same month that Brand’s divorce from the singer Katy Perry was finalised.
2013
A woman who told the Sunday Times she had met Brand at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting before they started working together claims he sexually assaulted her at his home in Los Angeles. She alleges he tried to kiss her and remove her clothes as he pinned her down, and she shouted at him to stop. “I was screaming: ‘What are you doing, stop, please, you’re my friend,’” she said.
She claims he eventually relented but he “flipped” and shouted at her, saying she was fired. She claims that years later she spoke to someone who had been working on a project with Brand and was outside the house at the time of the incident. He allegedly apologised for not helping her, and said: “I heard you screaming” and: “We were all so scared of him.”
Brand allegedly threatened the woman later with legal action if she told anyone about her allegation, and she said she never formally reported him because she feared it would affect her career.
2020
The woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand during a three-month relationship when she was 16 contacted his literary agent at the time, who was also the co-founder of the talent agency Tavistock Wood. She said a lawyer representing Brand contacted her denying the allegations and claiming she was looking for money.
A statement given to the PA news agency by Tavistock Wood said: “Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him. TW has terminated all professional ties to Brand.”
2023
On 16 September, a joint investigation by the Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches is published, detailing allegations made against Brand.
The night before publication, Brand denied the claims in a video posted online, stating that all of his relationships had been consensual, before accusing the media of a “coordinated attack”.
He said: “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
