The media personality Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse during a seven-year period at the height of his fame.
The allegations were the result of a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
The actor and comedian had already moved to deny what he called “very serious criminal allegations” on Friday night. In a video posted online, Brand said he had received correspondence from a media company and a newspaper detailing the claims; this is standard practice for journalists preparing to report serious allegations about a named entity.
He issued his denial in a video posted across his accounts on several media platforms, insisting his relationships had always been consensual.
He portrayed the reports as a “litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks”. He said they pertained to a period of his career when he was working “in the mainstream … As I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous” at that time.
Brand continued: “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 am being transparent about it now as well.
“To see that transparency metastasised into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question: is there another agenda at play?”
More details soon …