Russell Brand joked about raping woman in now-deleted video as accusations made

Timeline of events around Russell Brand allegations

Russell Brand joked about raping a woman and killing her 10 years ago in a now-deleted video.

The 48-year-old made the comment at the height of his fame while speaking on Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast.

During the chat, he said: “It’s not my extremism that I need to protect, it’s my mundanity.

“I’m just a bloke from Essex, from a single-parent family, that is a pretty comprehensive show-off.”

After a pause and audience laughter, he added: “Oh and also I raped someone once.

“I killed her after, she’ll never tell.”

As the crowd continued to laugh, Herring shook his head and chuckled.

In the same video from the podcast recording, Russell joked about the ancient Greeks having sex with children while creating mathematics, saying: “They didn’t mind it.

“And they was clever, coming up with triangles every few seconds.

“‘I’ve done another triangle. I’m f****** a little kid. This is great. F*** the kid with the triangle! Hey, that’s too much. I took it too far’.”

The video of the actor’s jokes no longer appears to be on YouTube.

Although known for his crude sex jokes and dark humour, his comments haven’t aged well in light of accusations made against him.

The comedian is accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse from alleged victims in a joint investigation from The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Russell vehemently denied all allegations and said all his sexual relationships have always been “consensual”.

As part of a lengthy video, he also claimed the “very serious allegations” came amid “a litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks”, such as against his channel.

Channel 4 announced it is carrying out “its own internal investigation” following the allegations coming to light.

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

The broadcaster has also removed content featuring Russell from its streaming service while it looks into the accusations.

“We will be writing to all our current suppliers reminding them of their responsibilities under our Code of Conduct, as we are committed to ensuring our industry has safe, inclusive and professional working environments,” a Channel 4 statement added.

The Metropolitan Police has said of the accusations: “We are aware of media reporting of a series of allegations of sexual assault. At this time, we have not received any reports in relation to this.

“If anyone believes they have been the victim of a sexual assault, no matter how long ago it happened, we would encourage them to contact police.

“We spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday 16 September. We will be making further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that any victims of crime who they have spoken with are aware of how they may report any criminal allegations to police.”

The force has since announced they had received an assault claim dating back to 2003, following four women’s allegations in the documentary.

Source: Read Full Article