Women's charity cuts ties with Russell Brand after sexual assault allegations

17 September 2023 , 10:53

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Russell Brand has been dropped by a women's charity following the emergence of claims of sexual abuse and rape, which he denies.

The 48-year-old comedian was the subject of a Channel 4 Dispatches programme, which aired last night following a joint investigation with The Times, Sunday Times and Dispatches, and saw four women accuse Brand of a number of incidents including rape and sexual assault. Before the documentary aired, Brand took to his YouTube channel to deny the 'serious' and 'criminal claims and insist: "The relationships I had were absolutely always consensual".

Following the airing of the documentary and release of the article, in which a string of bombshell allegations have been made against the star by four unnamed women, women's charity Trevi has 'ended their association' with him.

The women's and children's charity, which supports disadvantaged women being affected by violence and abuse, worked with Brand for more than a year before the allegations surfaced. The charity released a statement on their Instagram page.

It reads: "We are deeply saddened and upset by the stories reported on this evening's Channel 4 Dispatches programme regarding Russell Brand.

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"Russell became aware of our charity in 2022 after hearing about some of the incredible mothers we have helped to become drug-free over the years. He wanted to support our cause and raise money through his Stay Free Foundation. Today's media revelations have been difficult to process but our priority remains and continues to be the safety and well-being of all women and girls now and in the future.

"We have ended our association with Russell Brand and the Stay Free Foundation. As a charity whose values put women's voices at the heart of what we do, we always prioritise supporting women affected by violence and abuse and empower them to live without violence and fear.

"We understand that for some women, today's media content could be triggering, and for those who may need support, please contact The Survivor Pathway."

It comes after Brand denied the allegations in a two minute at 45 second YouTube video on Friday evening – before the release of the article and documentary. The documentary heard allegations from four different women, which are claimed to have taken place between 2006 and 2013 – at the height of Brand's fame.

He said: "Now, this isn't the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story, I am the news. I've received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email. One from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel.

"But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, often very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.

"Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that. Then almost too transparent, and I'm being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play? Particularly when we've seen coordinated media attacks before, like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn't approve of, and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language.

"I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, watch out, Russell. They're coming from you. You're getting too close to the truth. Russell Brand did not kill himself. I know that a year ago there was a spate of articles. Russell Brand’s a conspiracy theorist, Russell Brand’s right wing. I'm aware of news media making phone calls, sending letters to people I know for ages and ages. It's being clear to me, or at least it feels to me like there's a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices. And I mean, my voice along with your voice.

"I don't mind them using my books and my standout to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations. Also, it's worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack.

"Now, I don't wanna get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I'm being attacked and plainly they're working very closely together. We are obviously going to look into this matter 'cause it's very, very serious. In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free."

If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999