Russell Brand says sex assault claims against him are ‘hurtful attacks’

UK funnyman Russell Brand has addressed sex assault claims made against him in his first sit-down interview.

Comedian Russell Brand has spoken out about sexual assault claims made against him, while denying the accusations and describing them as “hurtful attacks”.

In his first sit-down interview since the accusations came to light, Brand, 48, appeared on the streaming service Tucker Carlson Network on Wednesday night.

“Of course I deny any allegations … that have been advanced. I reject the allegations in the strongest possible terms,” Brand said.

“I am aware that I have put myself in an extremely vulnerable position by being very, very promiscuous. That is not the kind of conduct that I endorse and it is certainly not how I would live now.

“To be accused of what I consider to be the most appalling crimes is very, very painful and very hurtful. But I am being shown that there is a cost and there are consequences for the rather foolish way I lived in the past.

Ep. 70 Governments colluded to shut down and destroy Russell Brand. This is his first interview since that happened. Watch it when you get a minute. It's one of the most brilliant explanations of the modern world you'll ever hear. pic.twitter.com/bCZDTYfZAZ

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 30, 2024

“Though of course to reiterate I deny any allegations of the kind that have been advanced.”

In September last year, Brand was the subject of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse claims by several different women.

Police launched an investigation into Brand after receiving a complaint from a woman following a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Brand has been questioned by Scotland Yard detectives in relation to nine historic sex offence allegations. However, there have been no arrests, and Brand has denied any wrongdoing.

During the interview, Brand revealed that at the time the ITV documentary was aired with the allegations, his infant son who was 12 weeks old was undergoing heart surgery.

Russell Brand and wife Laura Gallacher. Picture: YouTube

“My son was born with a heart condition — while this was happening he was undergoing heart surgery at 12 weeks old,” he said.

“I mention my son because throughout it I was able to maintain what is really important in life.”

One of Brand’s accusers was 16 at the time she alleges that the then-31-year-old Brand called her “the child” and assaulted her during their “emotionally abusive and controlling” three-month relationship.

The woman — who is known only by the pseudonym “Alice” and was above the age of consent in the UK — said Brand was “grooming” her, an allegation a relative supported in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Russell Brand denies the sexual assault claims made against him. Picture: Getty Images

Alice said he told her to read Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, about a man obsessed with a 12-year-old girl, save his number in her phone under the name “Carly” and even gave her “scripts” to lie to her parents.

Allegations from Brand’s other accusers included a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her at his property in West Hollywood after they met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

Brand has always rejected what he has described as “very serious allegations”, saying on his social media channels he has never had non-consensual sex.

Originally published as Russell Brand says sex assault claims against him are ‘hurtful attacks’