Police receive a report of a sexual assault that allegedly took place in Soho, London, in 2003, following media reports relating to alleged assaults between 2006 and 2013.
UK police say they have received a sexual assault complaint dating back 20 years after media reported claims by several women about Russell Brand, as promoters postponed the remaining dates of a live concert series of the comedian, who denies the accusations. .
A talent agency and a publishing house also parted ways with Brand. the claimswhich have left the UK entertainment industry facing questions over whether the comedian’s behavior went unchallenged due to his fame.
Brand, 48, said on Saturday he had never had sex without consent when The Sunday Times newspaper and Channel 4 TV documentary Dispatches reported that four women had accused him of sexual assaults, including rape, between 2006 and 2013. .
Police said that since those allegations were published and broadcast they had received a report of an assault that allegedly took place in Soho, central London, in 2003.
“Officers are in contact with the woman and will provide support,” the Metropolitan Police statement said.
“We first spoke to The Sunday Times on Saturday 16 September and have since made further contact with The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been a victim of a sexual offense knows how to report it to the police.”
There was no immediate comment from Brand’s representatives following the police statement.
Brand, ex-husband of American singer Katy Perry, issued a video message on social media to deny the “very serious criminal allegations” hours before they were published on Saturday.
“These accusations refer 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 at length in my books, he was very, very promiscuous,” Brand said.
“Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual,” added the comedian, known for his extravagant style and appearance and who has starred in several films such as Get Him to the Greek.
The Times and Dispatches said one woman had filed a rape complaint, while another said Brand assaulted her when she was 16 and still at school. Two of the accusers had reported the incidents that occurred in Los Angeles.
Reports about the allegations about Brand, once one of the country’s highest-profile comedians and broadcasters, have dominated the British media since they emerged.
He was in the middle of a stand-up tour and was due to perform at the Theater Royal Windsor on Tuesday, but it has now been cancelled.
“We are postponing these few remaining shows to raise money for addiction charities, we don’t like doing it but we know you will understand,” read a statement from his tour promoters, shared by the theatre.
The BBC, whose radio programs he worked on between 2006 and 2008, said it was urgently investigating the issues raised by the allegations and Banijay UK, the production company behind a television program once presented by Brand, said it had also initiated an urgent internal investigation. .
“These are very serious and worrying allegations, and you will be aware that the Metropolitan Police have asked anyone who believes they have been a victim of sexual assault to come forward and speak to officers,” a spokesman for the British prime minister told reporters. , Rishi Sunak.
Conservative lawmaker Caroline Nokes, who chairs the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, urged police in both Britain and the United States to investigate the “incredibly shocking” allegations.
“This warrants and needs a criminal investigation, because for too long we have seen men – and the perpetrators of these types of crimes are almost invariably men – not be held accountable for their behavior and actions,” he told BBC Radio.
The claims have renewed debate about the “lad culture” that flourished in Britain in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the misogyny that still permeates the internet.