Katie Price has recalled an alleged memorable encounter with disgraced comedian and TV presenter Russell Brand.
The reality TV star and podcast host, 45, raised the subject of Brand in a new interview, after he was accused of sexual assault, rape and emotional abuse by multiple women in an investigation published by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches last month.
Brand – who rose to fame on the stand-up circuit before presenting Big Brother’s Big Mouth and starring in a number of Hollywood films – vehemently denies all of the allegations against him and says all of his relationships have been consensual.
Speaking to the Observer, Price said she’d met Brand “a few times” and that the comedian once hired her former bodyguard.
“I thought he was quite a nice guy, actually, quite funny,” she said. “We were stuck in LAX airport with him once. He had his girlfriend with him and I was with [Peter Andre].
“He was trying to pull my stylist when his girlfriend was out there standing with her, so to me that says a lot. The truth always comes out in the end.”
Asked whether she believed it was “easy” for celebrities to get away with “bad stuff”, Price suggested that public figures often had people to “cover up for them”.
The Independent has contacted Brand’s representatives for comment.
Katie Price recalled one encounter with Russell Brand at LAX airport— (Getty)
Earlier this week, Thames Valley Police said it had launched an investigation after being contacted by a woman with “new information” relating to reports of “harassment and stalking” between 2018 and 2022.
Its announcement comes after the Metropolitan Police said it was investigating after receiving reports of “a number of allegations of sexual offences” in London as well as elsewhere around the country.
Meanwhile, comedian Katherine Ryan made an appearance on Desert Island Discs in which she explained why she referred to another, unnamed comic, as a “sexual predator”.
In 2022, Ryan told documentary presenter Louis Theroux about a male co-star she allegedly confronted while filming a TV show with him.
Last month, a Deadline report said Brand was reportedly “furious” after Ryan called him a “sexual predator” while filming Comedy Central’s Roast Battle.
On Sunday (1 October), Ryan was the guest on the BBC Radio 4’s programme, when she was asked about the interview with Theroux where she first made the allegations known.
“I got a lot of pushback, like, ‘Why won’t you say who it is?’” recalled Ryan, who once again did not name Brand. “It’s because everyone knows who it is. What they’re asking me for is the women’s names. And that’s what I won’t give and that’s why I was reluctant to talk about it.”
She added: “There are a few women’s names that I think investigators are looking for and that’s what they’re asking me for. No one’s asking me for his name. So it’s funny how people go straight to accusing, ‘You are the problem. You won’t give his name.’ We’re not the problem.”
Ryan explained that she found the decision of whether to work with people she believed were problematic “really difficult”.
“That’s what I wrestled with the most,” she said. “Because I believe that this person was or is dangerous, but also what am I going to change if I stay home? ... My compromise was, alright, I’m gonna go, but I’m going to let him know under no uncertain terms what I think of him. I’m not gonna just smile and look like I’m allowing this behaviour.”
If you have information in relation to the allegations against Russell Brand that you would like to share with The Independent’s reporting team, please email yourstories@independent.co.uk
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk.
If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
