Russell Brand breaks silence, begs for ‘support’ amid rape accusations: ‘Distressing week’
Russell Brand made his return on Friday to Instagram, where he begged his fans for their support after being accused of raping and sexually assaulting four women, including a 16-year-old.
“So…,” he captioned the short video clip in hopes of getting viewers’ attention.
“Hello there, you awakening wonders,” Brand, 48, begins.
He continues, “Obviously, it’s been an extraordinary and distressing week and I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that you have been presented with.
“By now, you’re probably aware that the British government has asked big tech platforms to censor our online content and that some online platforms have complied with that request,” he says, referencing YouTube suspending Brand’s ability to make money on the platform following the allegations against him.
Brand continues: “What you may not know is that this happens in the context of the online safety bill which is a piece of UK legislation that grants sweeping surveillance and censorship powers and it’s a law that’s already been passed.
“I also don’t imagine that you’ve heard of the trusted news initiative and now, as often is the case when a word like ‘trusted’ is used as part of an acronym to describe an unelected body, trust is the last thing you should be offering.
“The trusted news initiative is a collaboration between big tech and legacy media organizations to target, patrol, choke and shut down independent media organizations, like this one,” he says of Instagram.
Katy Perry’s ex-husband proceeded to invite viewers to learn more about this ruling Monday on his Rumble show.
Rumble, a video app, is a rival of YouTube and is avowedly committed to free speech.
The UK government sent Rumble a letter this week urging it to follow YouTube’s example and also “demonetize” Brand.
However, the company responded, “While Rumble obviously deplores sexual assault, rape, and all serious crimes, and believes that both the alleged victims and the accused are entitled to a full and serious investigation, it is vital to note that recent allegations against Russell Brand have nothing to do with content on Rumble’s platform.”
The Post has contacted Brand’s reps for comment.
Last week, Brand uploaded a video to address “some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
“The relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual,” the actor and comedian claimed.
Brand went on to say the allegations stem from a time when he was “very, very promiscuous,” which he said he wrote “about extensively in my books.”
“Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual,” he said.
The “Arthur” actor said he believed he was the subject of a “coordinated attack” and he was going to look into the matter because it was “very, very serious.”
Russell Brand sexual assault allegations
Brand was accused of raping, sexually assaulting and abusing four women over the course of seven years from 2006 to 2013.
- One woman, identified as “Nadia,” alleged the “Get Him to the Greek” star raped her against the wall of his Los Angeles home in 2012 and that she was treated at a rape crisis center the same day, according to medical records cited by news outlets.
- Another accuser, who was 16 at the time and is known only by the pseudonym “Alice,” alleged the then-31-year-old called her “the child” and assaulted her during their “emotionally abusive and controlling” three-month relationship, according to the report.
- A woman identified as “Phoebe” claimed he sexually assaulted her at his property in West Hollywood after they met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, according to the Times of London. Brand allegedly trapped her in a bedroom and chased her around before pinning her down and assaulting her.
- The star’s ex-girlfriend Jordan Martin made similar accusations in her self-published 2014 book “kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity.” She claims he sexually assaulted her at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester, England, after becoming angry that she had spoken to an ex-boyfriend in 2007.
- Pop star Dannii Minogue angrily labeled Brand a “vile predator” as far back as 2006 — accusing him of creeping her out by perving over her “fabulous breasts” and refusing to “take no for an answer.”
Brand denied the allegations in a video on YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, alerting fans to “serious criminal” allegations that he said would be made against him.
“Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute,” Branded shared. “The relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.”
While the investigation proceeds, YouTube has suspended Brand from making money on the video streaming site, his pub “Crown Inn,” located in Pishill, Britain, has been temporarily shut down and BBC has formally launched a review into the comedian’s time at the network.
