Detectives launch full investigation into 'number of allegations' of sexual assault against Russell Brand
25 September 2023, 17:07 | Updated: 25 September 2023, 18:08
The Metropolitan Police says it has received a number of sexual offence allegations against Russell Brand in London and elsewhere in the country.
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The comedian 48, is accused of numerous sex attacks on several women in the UK and California spanning from 2003 to 2013.
Brand has denied the claims against him, and on Monday he streamed a video where he asked if fans noticed how the "mainstream media reports on certain stories, investigating them extremely thoroughly, while elsewhere there is little or no debate or dissent".
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: "We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us.
"We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take and I want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support."
The Met said all the allegations sent to Scotland Yard are non-recent and nobody has been arrested.
The force previously said it had received an allegation of sexual assault in Soho, London, in 2003.
Its own investigation came after a joint examination into claims against the star by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times. As the claims were broadcast, the force asked people to come forward.
Previously, in a YouTube video in which he railed against the mainstream media, Brand said the accusations amounted to a series of "extremely egregious and aggressive attacks".
He said they were "some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute" when they first emerged earlier in September.
"What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations," he said, adding that all his relationships had been consensual.
"Also, it's worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack.
"Now, I don't want to get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I'm being attacked and plainly they're working very closely together."
In a social media video on Friday, seven days since he posted his original denial, he told viewers it had been "an extraordinary and distressing week".
He is now blocked from earning revenue on YouTube, but he planned to return to Rumble, another online video platform.
Brand said he would talk about "collusion between big tech and Government and an apparent concerted effort by legacy media... to silence independent media voices" on his next show on the service.
He added: "Obviously, it's difficult for me to be entirely objective given the events of the last week, but that's what we must try to do."
Allegations against Brand saw his talent Tavistock Wood cut ties with him, while the Trevi Women and Children's Charity ended its association with his Stay Free Foundation.
The BBC has removed some of Brand's work from iPlayer while YouTube - which usually earns him between £2,000 and £4,000 per video - axed his monetisation after fresh claims emerged.
He still held a live show, Bipolarisation, on the same day he posted his first denial video, but the tour has now been postponed.
