RUSSELL Brand has told fans “there are things I absolutely can not talk about” at his sold-out show after being accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse.
The comedian is going ahead with his gig tonight in Wembley Park Theatre, in spite of allegations made in a bombshell expose by The Times.
Russell Brand on stage tonight[/caption]
Russell Brand arriving at the Wembley Park Theatre[/caption]
Russell Brand Arriving at the Troubadour at Wembley Park theatre[/caption]
Four alleged victims have claimed that Brand attacked them between 2006 and 2013 at the height of his fame.
Brand has denied all the allegations against him.
Tonight he is performing in front of thousands of people despite the claims.
Brand looked stern as he arrived at the venue in west London.
But as he walked out on stage he was met with applause and cheers from fans.
Rebel Rebel by David Bowie was one of the songs being played before the show started.
Russell told the crowd: “I really appreciate your support. I love you.
“I want to do a fantastic show for you. I’ve got a lot of things to talk to you about.
“There are obviously some things that I absolutely can not talk about – and I appreciate that you will understand.”
A man who looks like Brand walked past the stage minutes after it started.
Brand quipped that the man looked like him and was a body double. He had long hair.
He quipped: “That might come in handy..”
The joke received a round-of-applause.
Members of the public held up signs declaring their support for Brand.
Brand then went into jokes which included swearing and talked about how he thought the world was corrupt in general.
It comes after audience members had been told the star was running late – with the show having meant to kick off at 7pm.
An announcement played to the theatre said: “Russell is stuck in traffic on the M40. The start will be closer to 7.40pm.
“He is 100 per cent on his way. He is looking forward to seeing you soon.”
Brand’s alleged victims’ claims range from rape to sexual assault, to emotional and physical abuse.
The first woman claimed that the comedian raped her up against a wall at his home in Los Angeles.
According to the woman, Brand apologised to her when she texted him to say “When a girl [says] no it means no” after she had been treated at a rape crisis center, saying he was “very sorry” and would “make it up to her with love and kindness”.
A second alleged that he forced her to perform oral sex until she choked while she was just 16 and that she had to punch him in the stomach to make him stop.
Brand would have been 31 at the time.
The girl, given the pseudonym Alice, also claimed he referred to her as “the child” during a three-month-long abusive relationship.
Russell Brand's video transcript in full
Hello there, you awakening wonders.
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 have received two extremely disturbing letters – well 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 have 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 have 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 are coming for you, you are 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 is 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 been 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 stand up 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 narratives 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 want to get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I’m being attacked and plainly they are working very closely together
We are obviously going to look into this matter because 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.
She claimed he asked her to save his name in her phone as “Carly” and sent a car to pick her up from school and ferry her to his home, even claiming that the taxi driver begged her not to go inside.
The third alleged victim, who said that she worked with Brand, claimed he sexually assaulted her before threatening legal action if she spoke out.
And the fourth woman accused him of sexually assaulting her as well as being both emotionally and physically abusive.
According to the piece, the women do not know each other and felt compelled to speak up due to Brand’s rise as an online influencer.
A detailed look at the claims is set to be aired on Channel 4 this evening, with a special episode of Dispatches at 9pm.
Overnight, Brand denied all the allegations against him, slamming them as “aggressive attacks” before they were published.
The actor posted a video to YouTube in which he said he “absolutely refutes” the claims and that his previous relationships were “always consensual”.
While he admitted to being “promiscuous” during the height of his fame, he firmly denied any criminal aspect to his behaviour.
September 16, 2023 at 11:45PM
from The Sun