Lesbian former PA accuses ‘narcissist’ Russell Brand of ‘sickening’ behaviour amid rape and sexual assault allegations
Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women. (Getty Images)
British comedian and YouTuber Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse during a seven-year period by four women. A former personal assistant has alleged that being a lesbian was seen as making her “safe” to work for him.
The allegations against the 48-year-old actor and influencer have been published as part of an investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
Brand denied the allegations before they were made public by the investigating media in a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday (15 September) stating that his sexual relationships during a “promiscuous” time in his career were “absolutely always consensual”.
Through his lawyers Brand has repeated his denial, characterising the allegations as a “concerted campaign” and saying he believes there is a “deeply concerning agenda to all this, namely the fact that [Brand] is an alternative media broadcaster competing with mainstream media”.
Among the allegations against Brand, one woman has alleged that Brand raped her against a wall in his Los Angeles home, while a second alleged that Brand assaulted her when he was 31 and she was 16.
The second woman claimed the comedian referred to her as “the child” and would send a car to take her out of lessons at school and to his home, the Times reported. The woman, known as Alice, said: “Russell engaged in the behaviours of a groomer.”
A third woman alleged that Brand sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles, and that he threatened to take legal action if she told anyone else. A fourth woman alleged she was sexually assaulted by Brand and the target of physical and emotional abuse from him.
Helen Berger, who worked as Brand’s personal assistant in 2006, told the Times that she mentioned having a girlfriend during her interview and was later told that being gay was a “plus” for the job by a manager. She said that her manager “wanted to make sure that I would be safe”.
Berger referred to Brand as a “narcissist” and alleged that he would often only wear underwear around her while she was working. She said Brand openly showed his friends intimate photographs of women.
On one occasion, Berger recounted: “I leant in. As he’s going through these pictures he gets to a picture of somebody I knew. It did something to me. It made me feel really sick to my stomach.
“These are women who aren’t expecting to be shown to the dude’s friends.”
Brand, who has previously faced criticism for promoting conspiracy theories on his YouTube channel, is set to play a comedy gig at Wembley Park Theatre in London, which will end minutes before the Channel 4 Dispatches programme due to broadcast a “years in the making” investigation, airs at 9pm on Saturday night.
After posting his video denying the allegations, Brand appeared to be supported by X owner Elon Musk, anti-LGBTQ+ former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and misogynist influencer Andrew Tate. The latter has been charged with rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women.
Musk replied to Brand’s video, posting: “Of course. They don’t like competition”, seemingly in reference to the “mainstream media” Brand criticises.
In the clip, Brand said: “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 my 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 are some 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.”
Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of sexual violence. If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.
