There is a lot to be horrified by when it comes to the allegations facing Russell Brand. As part of a lengthy investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times, and Channel 4’s Dispatches, there are detailed accounts of sexual assault, emotional abuse, and controlling behaviour. There are claims he exploited his position as a public figure to exert power over younger, more junior colleagues, alongside suggestions of grooming and coercion. It is harrowing, to say the least. (Brand vehemently denied the allegations in a video released on Friday, saying that his relationships have been “absolutely always consensual”.)
Published last weekend, the allegations have prompted a surge in online discourse around sexual violence. There is talk of further criminality, culpability of his employers, and a culture of silence that meant Brand and his reputation were, for a long time, professionally impenetrable. But there is one thing very few people are discussing – and it’s something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. That’s because it happened to me.
