Following the release of the explosive new documentary exposing sexual misconduct and abuse allegations against Russell Brand, as part of a joint investigation between The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, we’ve broken down the five most shocking moments. Warning: Some may find this content distressing.
The opening sequence of the new Russell Brand documentary features a segment from the comedian’s 2006 stand-up special Shame, in which he speaks about his preference for oral sex where it “goes in their neck a little bit,” before doing an impression of the sound it makes.
“I wouldn’t suggest it,” he adds. Later in the documentary, a segment from the same bit sees him referencing “them blow jobs where mascara runs a little bit,” following an account from a woman who alleges Brand forced her to perform this act on him when she was just 16 years old.
This is just one of many chilling accusations made against the famed comedian, actor, and activist over his turbulent career in the limelight, and perhaps one of the reasons why Dispatches titled its episode Russell Brand: In Plain Sight. Amid the release of the documentary, in which all of the names of the accusers have been changed and identities concealed for their protection, here are the five most shocking moments.
Alice alleges she was “groomed” by Russell Brand at 16
A woman who goes by the name Alice accuses Russell Brand of pursuing her for a relationship in 2006, when she was 16 years old and he was 31. Though she didn’t realize it at the time, she claims he engaged in the behaviors of a “groomer.” After having sex for the first time, Brand is accused of forcing her to perform oral sex on him.
At the time, as the host of Big Brother’s Big Mouth and a popular stand-up comedian, Brand was in great demand in the UK. When he met Alice in London, she says he grabbed her shopping bags, picked out a dress, and said: “Okay, you’re going to wear that on date with me.”
Although it was overwhelming, she felt “giddy and special,” and claims she would wake up to messages from him saying he’d “dreamt that they were married and how happy it made him.”
The documentary then points to a bit from his stand-up where he jokes about his techniques with women. “I can pretend to be nice for a little bit of time, you know at the beginning of a relationship,” he says, before describing it as “the knobstacle course.”
Alice compares Brand’s behavior to that of a groomer, saying he tried to drive a wedge between her and her parents by teaching her to lie to them.
When Brand asked Alice how many people she had slept with, she said none. “He got an erection straight away,” she says. “He was like, ‘Oh my god, my baby, my baby,’ and picked me up and cradled me in his arms like a child and was stroking my hair. He was like, ‘You’re like my little dolly.’”
After they allegedly had sex for the first time, she says Brand’s friend came to pick them up and drive her to the tube station. “I felt like a little kid being dropped off somewhere,” she says, describing how Brand held her hand from the front seat in the same way her mom did.
After a couple of months of seeing each other, Alice says things took a darker turn. “I was sat up in bed against the headboard and he forced his penis down my throat and I couldn’t breathe,” she says. “He was just choking me and I couldn’t breathe. And I was pushing him away and pushing him away, and he wasn’t backing off at all. And so I had to punch him really hard in the stomach to get him off. And then he fell backwards and I was crying and he said, ‘I only want to see your mascara run anyway.’
“I knew at that point he didn’t care about hurting me physically or emotionally or any of it. It shouldn’t take you having to punch someone and to wind them to get them off you. It shouldn’t be a physical fight.”
Alice claims Brand then got on top of her, held her mouth open, and started “drooling” into her mouth, causing her to gag. “He held my mouth shut and made me swallow it, so I was just gagging and crying.”
She recalls how he “seemed angry” and that she didn’t know what she had done wrong. In hindsight, she believes he was smart in creating his womanizer persona in the media; if women were to ever speak out, people can say, “Oh, that’s just Russell.”
Russell Brand accused of rape
A woman who goes by the name Nadia in Dispatches claims that after having consensual sex with Russell Brand, he went on to rape her, with the documentary showing a detailed report about the incident after she checked herself into a rape treatment center.
Nadia recalls how she’d been at the after party for the comedian’s Brand X show in the US when he “made a beeline” for her and kissed her. She claims the pair exchanged numbers and stayed in touch, and when she went round his home, they had consensual sex. During this encounter, he allegedly asked, “Do you want to use a condom or not use a condom?” To which she said: “Absolutely we’re using a condom.”
Similarly to other women’s accounts, Nadia describes how he would almost “glaze over” during their sexual encounters. On July 1, 2012, she says she was out late one night when Brand convinced her to come round.
“The door was unlocked, I just walked into his place,” she says. “He comes running out of the bedroom naked. He came at me with kisses and stuff, which was kind of fun and then it wasn’t fun when I couldn’t move. I knew what he wanted from me at that point.
“He pushed me up against the wall. I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ He’s like, ‘I have a friend here and I want you to come into the bedroom.’ I’m like, ‘No, that’s not happening, we’re not doing that.’ And I tried to get away from him.
“I slipped away from the wall. I went to another wall that had a painting on it, a huge painting. My bag got actually stuck underneath that, and it’s still on my arm. And at this point he’s grabbing at my underwear, pulling it to the side. I’m telling him to get off me and he won’t get off. And he has that glazed look in his eye again.
“I was very distraught, trying to get out of the house, with him being so much taller than me, like holding me up against the wall, pushing himself in me, I couldn’t move. And he finally cums, he gets off of me, and I push him away. He blocks the door. He’s like, ‘Are you okay?’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m not okay, get away from me.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, let’s calm down.’ I ran out and I jumped in my car. I was in a daze.”
Following the incident, the documentary shows a text from Brand to Nadia which reads: “I’m sorry. That was crazy and selfish. I hope you can forgive me, I know that you’re a lovely person.”
That same day, Nadia went to a rape treatment center to report what had happened. She underwent tests, was given antibiotics, and emergency contraception. “They took my underwear and obviously the samples,” she says. A report from the incident is shown on screen, detailing the date and a description of what happened.
She decided not to go to the police, explaining: “I was just too scared. I didn’t want to put my family through that, let alone me through that, with him being famous. When I went in for one of my first therapy sessions, I literally couldn’t say the word rape. I had to keep saying sexually assaulted, but by the end of it, I was like, ‘Oh my god, he raped me.’”
Russell Brand allegedly traumatized fellow AA member and friend
Months after the incident, in 2013, a woman who goes by the name Phoebe in the Dispatches episode claims Brand pursued her. After a consensual relationship, they developed a friendship, and Phoebe ended up working for him. However, their friendship came to an abrupt end when he allegedly attempted to sexually assault her.
Phoebe explains that she moved from the UK to LA looking for a big break. When she first met Brand in Alcoholics Anonymous, she says they started a friendship, highlighting that she “willingly” slept with him during this time. However, she says he was “very manipulative” and “sold her a dream,” saying things like he wanted to have her babies.
When their sexual relationship ended, she says Brand offered her a job to come and work for him. Although they developed a friendship, his promiscuity reportedly made her feel uncomfortable. “Everything he did workwise revolved around his sexual behavior with other people,” she recalls, describing a “revolving door of women,” and claiming that Brand would sleep with “five plus women a day.”
One night, she was working at Brand’s home before they left for a show. As they were in a rush, she says she left her belongings at his. When they came back, his assistant at the time went out for an errand, and without her realizing, she was alone with him at the house.
“He came into the room. I can’t remember if he was naked or if he was in underwear, but he ended up naked at some point,” she says. “And he started chasing me. I was almost laughing because I was like there’s no way this is happening. And it got a little more aggressive. And then I think I realized this is not a joke.”
Phoebe continues: “I went to walk back out, to get out of the bedroom, and the door had been locked, which I hadn’t seen him do. And he grabbed me and got me on the bed. I was fully clothed and he was naked at this point, and he held me down and was just aggressively trying to f*ck me. And I saw something come over his eyes – I swear to god, like black. His eyes had no more color, they were black. Like a different person literally entered his body.
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“I was screaming, like, ‘What are you doing, stop, you’re my friend, I love you, please don’t do this, I don’t want to do this.’ I think he had his hands down my trousers but I was fighting so hard and I was screaming so hard and something snapped and he heard me and he got off of me. He got up and I was like, ‘What the f*ck.’ And he flipped the f*ck out on me, like, ‘F*ck you.’”
Phoebe says she grabbed her shoes and ran barefoot out of the house, only to realize some of Brand’s US colleagues were waiting outside to join a meeting. Years later, Phoebe says she ran into one of them and he pulled her aside and said to her: “I have never forgiven myself for not running into the house to save you. I heard you screaming and I didn’t know what to do and we were all so scared of him. I didn’t do anything and I’m sorry.”
Although Brand was allegedly apologetic following the incident, a few days later, she says he pulled her aside and his tone changed. She believes he’d found out she’d told a friend about it, as she accuses him of threatening her with legal action if she said anything.
Phoebe describes the whole experience as “really tough,” adding: “He was a member of AA. That is supposed to be a safe place, a sanctuary. After that I almost drank. I was f*cked up. I just didn’t know how to process it… I felt like I couldn’t go to meetings. I never heard from him again, never saw him. I’m at peace with it now.”
Russell Brand offers assistant to pedophile Jimmy Savile
One of the most disturbing public moments presented in the Dispatches documentary is Russell Brand’s interaction with prolific pedophile Jimmy Savile while he was working as a presenter on BBC Radio 2. During their exchange, Brand jokes about offering up his personal assistant to the sex offender – comments which took place before Savile’s horrific crimes had come to light.
In the clip, when Brand asks if he will meet him, Savile says: “If you have got a sister you could meet me by bringing her along. I don’t usually meet fellas but if you have got a sister then that’s okay.”
Brand replies: “Well, I haven’t got a sister but I have got a personal assistant and part of her job description is that anyone I demand she greet, meet, massages, she has to do it. She’s very attractive, Jimmy. Would you like her to wear anything in particular, Jimmy?”
Savile says that he’d “prefer her to wear nothing,” to which Brand responds: “That will not be a problem.”
This was just one of many problematic moments throughout Brand’s BBC career, including repeatedly speaking in a derogatory way about newsreader Andrea Simmons. Even after she complained, Brand made a joke about it on his radio show.
He was eventually fired from the position after he and Jonathan Ross rang Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs on his show and made lewd comments about having sex with Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie, who Brand had slept with in the past.
Russell Brand’s behavior was in plain sight
As the title suggests, the Dispatches documentary examines how Russell Brand’s behavior towards women was in plain sight. He would joke about it in his stand-up sets, staff members allege that he would poach women from audiences, and he would make crude comments about women while interviewing them on TV.
In one clip, while interviewing model Caprice on MTV, he asks if she’s wearing any underwear from her line. When she says she is, he jokes, “Take them off,” before pretending to masturbate at the idea. In another, while being interviewed by Jonathan Ross, he’s probed about “taking precautions,” to which Brand jokes: “What I do is I make absolutely sure that it’s a woman and then go for it.” And a third sees him saying: “Just go with it, don’t try and fight it – I have to say that everyday.”
While he was known for his controversial sexual humor, those who worked with him alluded to a darker side to his promiscuity. Helen Berger, who served as Brand’s PA between 2006 and 2007, says he would pick women out from the audience to sleep with, passing his contact details to them.
But there’s one incident that stands out to her, which unfolded at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he was headlining. Berger alleges that Brand showed a whole team of people a series of nude images he’d been sent from other women, and they were “giggling.” At a certain point, Berger leaned in to see what they were looking at, and she noticed someone she knew. “It made me feel really sick to my stomach,” she says.
The comedy circuit was just one of many where Brand’s behavior was allegedly considered a risk. Fellow comedian Daniel Sloss spoke out in the Dispatches documentary to describe how he’d heard allegations about Brand’s treatment of others amongst women in the stand-up scene.
“There were many stories,” he says. “It wasn’t just coming from one person or one group of people.” Sloss adds: “I know that there are groups set up by female comedians where they warn each other of comedians and agents, people in the industry, who to avoid. And I know for many, many years that women have been warning each other about Russell.”
Sloss speaks about one instance in which he was in a room with various agents and promoters, who were all speaking about the allegations and rumors about Brand. Despite the alleged knowledge industry figures had about him, he would go on to enjoy a successful career in Hollywood.
Massive respect to @Daniel_SlossBeing one of the only comedians willing to state what he knew, on record, out of 100s approached. He has always championed "Men doing more" & has a "bit" about that… Well done for speaking up & helping 👏pic.twitter.com/LdmiUmMcBv
— ScotsAbroadPod (@ScotsAbroadPod) September 17, 2023
A key facet of the Dispatches episode is how Brand’s behavior was facilitated by those around him. In one instance, Alice explains that by 2014, she was working for Channel 4 and discussing the potential host for a show, with Brand being the most likely candidate.
When a couple of people in the room raised concerns about him as there’d been previous situations where he’d allegedly been inappropriate with staff members, “the solution offered was that we would take female staff off the crew and then if there were women there, they’d never be alone with him,” she explains. “I was in disbelief.” Ultimately, Brand wasn’t hired, as one commissioning editor strongly opposed the idea.
However, this was far from the first time Brand’s behavior had been discussed openly in this context. He even alluded to this in his autobiography My Booky Wook, stating that he had to sign a contract confirming he’d be “no trouble.”
One of the runners on the Channel 4 Big Brother spinoff series Efourum says Brand, who was the host, exposed himself to her, and actively pursued her until they eventually slept together.
She claims in the documentary that he told her she couldn’t tell anyone what had happened between them because it was written in his contract. Both Endemol, which produced the Big Brother series, and Channel 4 denied that there was a clause in his contract banning sexual relations with employees.
Another staff member who worked on Big Brother’s Efourum claims: “Russell’s pointing out women that he found attractive in the audience, then getting the runners to get their details so that they could meet up after the show.
“I distinctly remember getting phone calls from women in tears the next day saying they’d met up with Russell. They were mainly upset because they just felt used. ‘He promised he’d call me, he said he’d speak to me again, and I’ve not heard from him.’
“That said, I don’t know what went on once they left the studio. It was like we were taking lambs into slaughter. We were basically acting like pimps to Russell Brand’s needs.”
Another employee says: “He would give a runner a piece of paper and it would be a phone number or where to find him in his hotel room. They would give that out to at least two, three girls in the audience, and I say girls because they were all over 18 but all under 22.”
Channel 4 said in a statement that it is “appalled to learn of these deeply troubling allegations, including behavior alleged to have taken place on programmes made for Channel 4 between 2004 and 2007.” It added that it will “continue to review this in light of any further information we receive, including the accounts of those affected individuals.”
Ahead of the release of Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches, he shared a short video on his social media pages refuting the allegations, claiming that his encounters with women were “always consensual.”
To find out how to watch Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches, head here, and you can check out more of our documentary coverage below:
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