Image Credit: Roger Askew/Oxford Union/Shutterstock
Russell Brand, 48, is denying some “very serious criminal” sexual abuse allegations made against him, in a new Instagram video. The comedian has reportedly been accused by four women of the alleged sexual assaults, which apparently took place between 2006 and 2013. At the time, he was working for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and was starring in various films, including Get Him to the Greek and Rock of Ages.
“I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks,” Russell began in the video. “But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
Although Russell didn’t name a TV company or newspaper, a new special investigation episode of the U.K. current affairs show, Dispatches, is airing on Saturday night. Presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy sparked speculation about the episode when he shared a now deleted screenshot of the show with the caption, “Something’s up,” according to The Evening Standard.
Further in his video, which can be seen above, Russell claimed that any relationships he had during a period of “promiscuity” were all “consensual” and not one-sided. “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,” he explained. “And as I’ve 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.”
Russell Brand has denied sexual abuse allegations against him. (Roger Askew/Oxford Union/Shutterstock)
“I was always transparent about that then — almost too transparent,” he added. “And I’m being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny.”
Just hours after Russell shared the video, he was met with cheers by a sold out crowd at his comedy show at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in London, England. “I love you. I love you. Thank you. There’s some things I cannot talk about and hopefully you appreciate that I’m gonna give you everything I’ve got,” he reportedly told the audience after coming out on stage.
