Six more women have spoken out against Russell Brand, accusing the British actor and recently convicted rapist of sexual misconduct amid the ongoing fallout of his rape and sexual assault trial in the U.K.
Brand’s alleged predatory behavior and forceful sexual interactions with the women spanned from the aughts to 2015, as detailed by a new investigation published Thursday by the Times of London and Sunday Times. The investigation cites interviews with the accusers, their friends who were made aware of the incidents and archive material including text messages and photographs. The accusers are identified only by their first names. One woman’s name was changed for the article.
The investigation supports U.K. prosecutors’ allegations that 51-year-old Brand, who was a BBC radio host before he was a Hollywood star and religious influencer in recent years, leveraged his fame to have sexual encounters with numerous women. A majority of the women in the newest investigation alleged they met Brand during or after his shows, including one who said she interacted with the comedian while he was performing at a venue in San Francisco. Two women accused Brand of engaging in sex without their consent in separate incidents: One alleged Brand did not wear a condom while he raped her and the other woman alleged he left her in pain after proceeding with sex, despite her multiple refusals.
The Los Angeles Times has not independently corroborated the allegations. Legal representatives for the British actor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Times of London published its latest investigation into Brand three years after its initial exposé with Britain’s Channel 4 in September 2023 paved the way for criminal prosecution against the comedian and actor. Brand, the once in-demand star of comedies “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” was sentenced Monday to more than a decade in prison for rape and sexual assault.
A jury found Brand guilty last week on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. He was acquitted on two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. He stood trial for three weeks in October.
In the Times article, a woman described as an employee and named Alex said she met Brand in her 30s and engaged in an on-and-off relationship with the actor during the aughts. She detailed his alleged “controlling behavior” over her eating and drinking habits and alleged Brand initiated sex without a condom after she refused his advances. Brand apologized for his behavior in person and over text, she alleged.
Another woman, identified as Vicky, said she was 19 when she met Brand during a meet-and-greet in 2007 and that getting his attention at the time felt like a “fairytale.” Vicky noted Brand’s more forceful sexual behavior in a pair of separate incidents. During one encounter, she felt he was “rougher” in bed after she refused his request that she bring along a friend. In her final encounter with Brand at his rental, she alleges he engaged in sex without foreplay, leaving her in pain. She urged him to stop twice but he continued. Vicky said she was moaning in pain and that Brand told her “I want you to be louder so [another woman at the rental] can hear.” Vicky recalled another woman came out of a bedroom and began performing a sex act on Brand while she was still present. Brand allegedly also said, “tonight was consensual, nobody did anything they didn’t want to do.”
The woman who said she met Brand in San Francisco accused the actor of grabbing her breasts at a bar. Brand allegedly also shoved his hands down her pants and digitally penetrated her in a hotel after his comedy show. A fourth woman said she met Brand at a music festival in 2005 but didn’t have sex with the star until a “low day” when Brand alleged tried to “stick [his] penis” down her throat, nearly making her sick. They continued seeing each other for months but the woman — who also recalled Brand’s proclivity for asking women to brush his teeth during encounters — said she felt Brand was “playing with Barbies” and saw women as disposable after he got what he wanted.
A fifth woman said she was in her late 20s when she met Brand in 2006. She had won BBC 6 Music Competition and was invited to the show as a guest. Brand allegedly proposed an “arrangement” and they had sex in a disabled lavatory. They saw each other on-and-off for the next year but during their last meeting at the actor’s home, Brand seemed “pissed off and angry” and allegedly requested the woman to lick a toilet after they had sex. The sixth woman said she worked at London venue that Brand had frequented and accused the actor of physical violence. Brand, whom she described as a “disgusting, pervy comic,” tried to pull her into a disabled bathroom to have sex, the woman alleged. She said Brand grabbed her hand hard when she went to the bathroom to bring him toilet paper and that one of his staffers prevented her from leaving.
“I felt like a piece of meat,” the sixth woman recalled to the Times of London.
According to the investigation, the women who spoke out did not feel comfortable pursuing criminal cases against Brand but were empowered by the recent trial to share their stories. Earlier this week Brand’s ex-girlfriend producer Jemima Goldsmith accused Brand of “violence, coercive control and abuse” during their relationship. She said that she had police remove Brand from her home in 2014 “during a violent incident.”
Brand, the ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry, is married to author Laura Brand and they share three children. She testified on his behalf, describing him as a devoted father. She also recalled in court that she met Brand after one of his comedy shows in 2006 — she was 19 and he was 31.
Though Brand will soon be behind bars, accusations against the actor remain in the spotlight. British police confirmed to the Times earlier this week it is further investigating of criminal allegations against the actor. Brand and the allegations against him are also the subject of Netflix’s true-crime documentary “Russell Brand: Open Secret,” which premiered Friday.
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