Russell Brand Accused of Rape and Sexual Assault
Comedian Russell Brand is accused of raping and sexually assaulting four women during the height of his fame.
 |
| Russell Brand arrives at the Rock of Ages premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on June 8, 2012. (Photo: Jordan Strauss/InvisionAP) |
The comedian and presenter vehemently denied the allegations, insisting that previous relationships had been "always consensual".
Russell Brand accused of sexually assaulting four women
In a video posted on his YouTube channel and social media pages, he denied the "very, very serious criminal charges" and described the claims as "astonishing".
In a joint investigation by Time, Sunday Time, and Channel 4, the actor is accused of sexually assaulting four women between 2006 and 2013. Others accused Brand of predatory and abusive behavior.
One of the women accused Brand of raping her at her home in Los Angeles. She was forced to fight paintings by Brand who continued to rape her despite him telling her to "go down, go down", she claims.
Also, read: Hunter Biden indicted on firearms charges.
The woman had met Brand at a party before and met him in June 2012 for consensual sex. On the night of the alleged assault, he came to his house after he asked her to come. The woman said Brand was naked when she arrived and asked her to join her and "a friend" who was already in the bedroom.
When she refused, Brand pushed her against a wall and attacked her, she claims.
They have rejected the 'very serious criminal charges' (PA)
According to a text message published by Sunday Time, the woman texted Brand the next day saying, "For you to take advantage of me like that is unacceptable. You have a problem, you need help..." When a girl says NO, it means no."
Brand replied, "I'm so sorry... I am ashamed of my behavior," according to the message.
Another woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand the following year in early 2013. She had worked with Brand and had a brief sexual relationship with him before the alleged assault.
In the incident, she said she ended up trapped in the bedroom with Brand. He claimed she was naked and pinned her to the bed while she was fully clothed.
She yelled, "Please stop, you are my friend, I love you, please don't do this," Time reported. Brand eventually relented and she cried, she claims.
Another woman claimed that Brand took advantage of her when she was just 16 years old.
The woman said she met Brand in 2006 on a shopping trip to Oxford Circus when she was a teenager. The meeting blossomed into a relationship, in which she claimed that Brand referred to her as a "child".
She claimed that Brand once removed a condom during sex without her knowing, and claimed that Brand sexually assaulted her towards the end of their relationship.
In a video posted earlier in his investigation, the 48-year-old said he had received "two deeply troubling letters" from the newspaper and Channel 4 detailing a "series of very horrific and aggressive attacks", all of which he denied.
"These allegations relate to when I worked in mainstream media, when I was always in newspapers, when I appeared in movies," he said.
"As I have written a lot in my book, I am very, very free to choose. Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationship I had was always consensual."