Comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.
English comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of ‘rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse’, according to The Sunday Times of London. He has been accused of raping and sexually abusing four women during the peak of his popularity between 2006 and 2013. One of the women was only 16 years old at the time of the incident.
The British comedian, who originally found fame as a host on ‘MTV U.K.’, has starred in Hollywood films such as ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and ‘Get Him to the Greek’. He was also married to singer Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.
RUSSELL BRAND ACCUSED OF RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT
According to media reports, one of the women has alleged that Russell raped her against a wall in his Los Angeles home in 2012. At the time, she was in her thirties. She recalled that he later texted her to apologise. Screenshots of the alleged texts have been published in the Sunday Times.
The Sunday Times reported that Russell assaulted another woman when she was 16 during a three-month ’emotionally and sexually abusive’ relationship. He was then in his 30s. In one incident, he “forced his penis down her throat,” causing her to choke. The report mentioned another incident where she said that he removed a condom during intercourse without her knowledge. The woman also said that Russell Brand nicknamed her “the child,” and asked her to read passages from Vladimir Nabokov novel ‘Lolita’ during their time together.
Another victim revealed that the comedian sexually assaulted her at his West Hollywood home in 2013. He even threatened to take legal action if she ever spoke about the incident publicly.
In another incident, a 24-year-old runner claimed that Brand once “flashed his penis” when she went into his dressing room. He also “insinuated that she could give him oral sex,” according to The Sunday Times.
His former personal assistant, Helen Berger, also told the newspaper that she witnessed the actor showing “intimate pictures of women” to his friends.
RUSSELL DENIES ALLEGATIONS
Meanwhile, Brand has denied the allegations in a YouTube video titled ‘So, This Is Happening’. In the video, Brand said that he “absolutely refutes the litany of astonishing, rather baroque, attacks.”
“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream media, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I’ve written about extensively in my books I was very, very promiscuous. 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’m being transparent about it now as well,” he said.
Russell Brand has encountered a number of controversies during his career.