Russell Brand faces second investigation as police probe predator claim

Russell Brand's new podcast asking if free speech is being challenged

Thames Valley Police are investigating “new information in relation to the harassment and stalking allegations” made by a woman against Russell Brand.

According to the Mail Online, the police force confirmed their involvement on Sunday, after Scotland Yard’s criminal probe into claims about the 48-year-old comedian.

The publication states Russell has been accused of being a “sexual predator” by a woman, whose claim was allegedly previously dismissed.

The unidentified female is said to have lived near Russell, 48, in 2015 and they accused each other of harassment.

Police will now reportedly re-examine the case as there is now “new information”.

It added: “This information is being investigated, as such it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation.”

The new report comes after Russell was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse in The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches programme, all of which he strongly denies.

After the documentary was aired, the Met Police confirmed to Express.co.uk that they received a number of allegations of sexual offences in London, but didn’t name Brand.

They added: “We have also received a number of allegations of sexual offences committed elsewhere in the country and will investigate these. The offences are all non-recent.

“Officers will be offering specialist support to all of the women who have made allegations.

“The investigation is being carried out by detectives in the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command, led by Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy.”

Supt Furphy 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.”

There have been no arrests and enquiries continue. Express.co.uk has contacted a representative for Russell and Thames Valley Police for comment.

Before the Dispatches programme aired on September 19, Brand took to his YouTube channel to release a statement claiming there were “serious allegations” made against him, which he “absolutely refutes” and strongly denies.

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He described the allegations as a “coordinated attack” against him and told viewers all his relationships had been consensual.

As part of his lengthy statement, he said: “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, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel.

“But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, often very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. 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’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. I was always transparent about that. Then almost too transparent, and I’m being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?”

YouTube has since blocked him from earning money from the channel and he now encourages people to follow him on the “free speech” platform Rumble.

After the documentary was aired, Russell spoke of an “extraordinary and distressing week” but did not address the claims. You can read his statement here. 

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