Russell Brand questioned about alleged ‘non-recent’ sex offenses by London police
Embattled British comic Russell Brand has been questioned by London police officers about allegations of sexual abuse that date back more than a decade, according to a report on Sunday.
Brand, 48, was grilled by investigators regarding three “non-recent” sexual offenses, according to The Times of London, which published a joint investigation in September that accused the actor of raping, sexually assaulting and abusing three women and a 16-year-old girl between 2006 and 2013.
“A man in his forties attended a police station in south London on Thursday,” a Scotland Yard spokesperson told the newspaper.
“He was interviewed under caution by detectives in relation to three non-recent sexual offences. Enquiries continue.”
London’s Metropolitan Police had asked potential victims to come forward after the exposé was published, and cops have heard from accusers who had not been referred to in the bombshell report, both in London and in other parts of the UK, according to the Times.
“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,” Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy had said.
“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.”
One of the new accusers told police that she was sexually attacked by the “Get Him to the Greek” star in central London in 2003.
Brand’s interrogation came a day after his former employer, the BBC, said last week it was investigating five complaints about his behavior between 2006 and 2008 when he worked as a radio host.
The actor has denied the reports and said he had not engaged in nonconsensual sexual relationships, claiming he was a target in the “war on free speech.”
The Sunday Times of London, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches reported that a woman claimed the star raped her against the wall of his Los Angeles home in 2012, and provided receipts from a rape crisis center the next day.
A text message provided to the outlet showed that Brand replied “very sorry” to her when she messaged him, “When a girl [says] NO, it means no.”
The teenage accuser, who Brand had called “the child,” was allegedly attacked during the pair’s “emotionally abusive and controlling” fling, the article said. She was above the age of consent in the UK at the time.
Another woman alleged Brand attacked her in California after the two met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
“I think he had his hands down my trousers but I was fighting so hard and I was screaming so hard, hoping that I could get through somehow,” she said, “I don’t know what the actual definition of ‘sexual assault’ is, but it feels like that. He didn’t rape me.”
Brand’s ex-girlfriend Jordan Martin also has claimed he attacked her at a Manchester hotel after flying into a jealous rage because she had spoken with an ex-boyfriend.