CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses rape.
More claims of questionable behaviour by British comedian, actor and YouTuber Russell Brand have come to light following the explosive Dispatches documentary which accused him of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women.
Russell Brand: In Plain Sight aired on Saturday night UK time. It alleged that he sexually assaulted a number of women between 2006 and 2013, including one victim who was 16 at the time. Another saddening part of the exposé was the intimation that several people claim that Brand was protected and enabled by those around him as his career climbed.
A day before the explosive report came out, Brand released a three-minute YouTube video in which he denied all the allegations made in some “extremely disturbing letters” received from a “mainstream media” company.
“Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute,” the actor said.
“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time when I was in the movies and, as I have 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 am being transparent about it now as well.”
He went on to imply that these allegations could be a coordinated attack by the mainstream media to discredit him. No charges have been brought in relation to the allegations aired in the documentary.
Since the doco was released, a slew of unsavoury clips and encounters have emerged about Brand’s questionable past behaviour by a range of celebrities and people in the media.
Sir Rod Stewart
Back in 2006, Brand attended the GQ Men Of The Year Awards. As you’d expect, there was a bunch of other celebrity big dogs in attendance including singer Sir Rod Stewart. When Brand took to the stage to collect an award, he decided to use the spotlight to make a chiding remark.
“Here’s to Rod Stewart who had a go at me earlier this year for too much womanising,” he began.
“But then again, I did have a go on his daughter.”
In response, Stewart made his own little remark when it was his turn to collect an award.
“You went with my daughter, did you? Russell, stand up,” Stewart said from the stage. According to reports by the Daily Mail UK, Brand’s bravado seemingly withered away and he mumbled, “I took her out for one evening.”
When Stewart asked if he behaved himself, Brand replied; “I never touched that girl.”
“Fucking right you didn’t,” Stewart said on stage. “You mustn’t come up here and boast. I speak here as a father.”
Isn’t that one of the most British exchanges you’ve ever seen?
Liz Hayes
At the height of Brand’s fame in 2012, he appeared on Aussie news programme 60 Minutes. In a resurfaced clip, Brand was being interviewed by esteemed journalist Liz Hayes. At the end of the segment, he pulled her in for a kiss.
Hayes is seen pulling away, putting her hand between them and thanking him for his time. He then reaches around her back and asks “How can I undo your bra?” while she laughs it off.
Hayes reflected on this very wild interview in a 60 Minutes special in 2021.
“Seasoned as I am as a journalist, I am prepared for all events and all kinds of people. When Russell Brand decided he would like to kiss me, well, you size up the situation. You think, ‘Mmm-hmm. Am I in danger? What could go wrong?’”
I don’t think I have to spell out why this was inappropriate behaviour – even with Brand’s reputation for being a cheeky character.
You can watch the clip below.
Fifi Box
Hayes isn’t the only Aussie female journo that Brand decided to smooch in a particularly inappropriate fashion.
In 2013, Brand was interviewed by Fifi Box during a junket for the film Get Him To The Greek. He spent the majority of the five to ten-minute chat discussing the vaginal connotations of her name and making inappropriate comments.
“When you laugh like that, it makes me know what you sound like when you cum. And I like it,” he told her as she laughed awkwardly.
He then proceeded to climb on top of her and kissed her on the cheek. You can see the video below.
This could have been a totally fine interaction for Box, but as someone who has done countless junkets like this one for work, this kind of behaviour would make me so damn uncomfortable. The worst bit is, if I’m being completely honest, I know I would have just laughed it off.
After all, when you’re preparing to interview someone with the reputation of a larrikin, you prepare for things like this to happen. And sadly, I think most women know how to laugh off things that make them uncomfortable. I’m not saying it’s okay by any means, just that as a fellow female entertainment girlie, I get it. And hindsight makes things like this feel a bit shit.
Anyway, in 2015, Brand appeared on The Project. During the chat, host Gorgi Cochlan mentioned Box would be a guest panellist that evening.
“You’re joking, where is she?!” he said excitedly.
“Tell her I wanna see my kid,” he quipped before the producers cut the audio.
Box, who was a mum of one at the time, had to explain on air that her daughter was not Brand’s kid. It was extremely awkward.
Katy Perry
In case you forgot, Katy Perry was married to Russell Brand. They tied the knot in 2010 and separated 14 months later in 2012. In 2013, Perry spoke to Vogue and revealed that Brand ended their relationship via text.
“He’s a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him.
“Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me on December 31, 2011.”
At the time, Perry added how she discovered he was making jokes about her on stage behind her back and she only discovered when she was in the audience of a show to surprise him.
Perry went on: “I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can’t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day. I let go and I was like: This isn’t because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that.”
Since the allegations against Brand have come to light, fans of Perry are wondering what information she is “saving for a rainy day”.
Dannii Minogue
17 years ago, Australia’s own Dannii Minogue spoke out against Brand’s behaviour – and she didn’t mince her words.
Speaking to UK tabloid newspaper The Mirror, Minogue referred to the comedian as a “vile predator”.
“He is completely crazy and a bit of a vile predator. I certainly don’t think he has cured his sex addiction, that’s for sure,” she said.
In case you missed it, Brand has been very open about his struggles with sex and drug addiction throughout his career.
She continued: “He always goes that step too far. Never quite far enough to slap his face, but usually too far.
“He’s obviously very intelligent but he wears more make-up than I do. Normally I love guys with eyeliner on. It can be very sexy, but not on Russell. Absolutely no way, never, he’s just not my type.”
Minogue went on to describe an interview she had with him, where he allegedly made shocking remarks throughout that she said she “can’t even repeat.”
Big yikes.
Also, in my personal opinion, just because someone uses big words it doesn’t mean they’re intelligent. Effective language should be understood by the masses. From my experience, people who fling around big words are just trying to impress, condescend and have something to prove.
With all of these accounts, I can’t help but feel the name Russell Brand: In Plain Sight was an accurate choice for the exposé documentary. So much of his behaviour that celebs and public figures talk about above was given a pass because of his publicly cheeky, naughty boy persona.
As for the allegations raised against Brand? Only time will tell.
Help is available.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
