Russell Brand allegations timeline: What has he been accused of in the past few days?
Yahoo News UK explores the timeline of the allegations against Russell Brand after he was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.
Russell Brand is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police, the BBC, Channel 4 and a production company following allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse against him.
The 48-year-old comedian and actor has denied the claims, saying all of his relationships have been "consensual".
Brand is facing sexual assault allegations from four women which allegedly occurred between 2006 and 2013, as well as claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour, following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it has received an allegation of sexual assault dating back to 2003.
Yahoo News UK examines the timeline of the allegations made against Russell Brand:
Friday, 15 September
Russell Brand posts a video on social media before details of the allegations are published, in which he speaks to camera and denies the claims.
"Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute," he says.
"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."
Brand claims he is the subject of a "co-ordinated attack".
Read more: Russell Brand denies 'serious criminal allegations' (Sky News)
Saturday, 16 September
The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches publish their investigation, detailing the allegations made against Brand by four women.
One alleges that Brand raped her against a wall in his home in Los Angeles; a second says he assaulted her in the UK when she was 16 and still at school; a third says Brand sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles, and a fourth woman alleges Brand sexually assaulted her and was physically and emotionally abusive.
In the 90-minute Dispatches special, titled Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, he is accused of pursuing audience members for sex while presenting Big Brother spin-off shows EFourum and Big Brother’s Big Mouth on Channel 4, while other allegations related to when he was a radio presenter for the BBC.
Read more: Dispatches - How to watch the Russell Brand: In Plain Sight investigation (National World)
Watch: Russell Brand makes swift exit from theatre after gig
As Dispatches airs, Brand performs a comedy gig to thousands of people at the Troubadour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London as part of his Bipolarisation tour.
He turns up in a black Mercedes 46 minutes late to the sold-out gig, which was due to start at 7pm but doesn't begin until after 8pm.
Brand briefly addresses the allegations made against him while on stage, saying he hoped the crowd "appreciate" there are certain things he cannot talk about.
Sunday, 17 September
Channel 4 announces it is conducting “its own internal investigation” after the allegations against Brand and encourages “anyone who is aware of such behaviour” to contact them.
Production company Banijay UK, which bought Endemol in 2020, also announces it is launching an “urgent internal investigation” and encourages “anybody who feels that they were affected by Brand’s behaviour while working on these productions” to contact them.
The BBC says it is “urgently looking into the issues raised” while Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008.
The Metropolitan Police says the force will speak to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure “any victims of crime who they have spoken with are aware of how they may report any criminal allegations to police”.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) says they do not have an open investigation into Brand, and another confirms there have been no arrests following two allegations that are said to have happened in the US.
Monday, 18 September
It is reported that more women have come forward with further claims against Brand.
“Several women” are said to have contacted The Times and The Sunday Times in the wake of their joint investigation with Channel 4 Dispatches.
The Times says the new allegations have not yet been investigated and will now “be rigorously checked”.
Brand’s publisher announces it “pausing” all of his future book projects after the allegations against him.
Bluebird, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has published Brand’s titles including Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions and Mentors: How To Help And Be Helped in recent years.
The company said: “These are very serious allegations and in the light of them, Bluebird has taken the decision to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand.”
An upcoming title by Brand, Recovery: The Workbook, was due to be published by Bluebird in December 2025.
The Metropolitan Police reveals that it has received a report of an alleged sexual assault following news reports about Brand.
The force says it has received an allegation of sexual assault in Soho, central London, in 2003.
In a statement, it said: “Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
“We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday 16 September and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.”
The woman who reported the alleged sexual assault had not spoken to The Sunday Times.
The promoters of Brand's stand-up show postpone the remainder of his tour in the wake of the allegations.
A performance slated for Tuesday at the Theatre Royal Windsor in Berkshire was postponed, with the show’s promoters saying in a statement shared by the theatre: “We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we don’t like doing it – but we know you’ll understand.”
Brand had also been due to perform at two more venues this month, including The Pavilions in Plymouth on Friday, and The Civic At The Halls in Wolverhampton next Thursday.
Tuesday, 19 September
YouTube stops Brand from making money on its platform because of the rape and sexual assault allegations against him.
The Google-owned company says it has suspended the monetisation of Brand's channel because he was “violating” its “creator responsibility policy”.
It said in a statement: “If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.”
Brand’s YouTube account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended from YouTube’s Partner account “following serious allegations against the creator”, meaning the channel is no longer able to make money from advertising on the platform.
The statement says: “This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand.”
YouTube suspends Russell Brand's channel from making money after allegations (Evening Standard)
The BBC removes some programmes featuring Brand from its iPlayer and Sounds apps.
A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC does not ban or remove content when it is a matter of public record, unless we have justification for doing so.
"There is limited content featuring Russell Brand on iPlayer and Sounds. We’ve reviewed that content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations.”
- BBC removes some Russell Brand content from iPlayer and Sounds apps (The National)
The BBC director-general Tim Davie announces a review of Russell Brand's time at the corporation between 2006 and 2008.
The BBC’s director of editorial complaints, Peter Johnston, is appointed to lead the review, which will look “at any complaints against Brand, what was known, and what was done”.
The broadcaster hopes to release an interim update on the review “within weeks”, says BBC News.
Wednesday 20 September
Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon says the Brand allegations show that “terrible behaviour” towards women has been “historically tolerated” in the industry.
Opening the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention, Mahon says the claims against the former Channel 4 presenter are “horrendous, disgusting and saddening”.
She added that her channel had invited anyone that knew about such behaviour to come to them directly as well as noting that they had set up a process for people to contact the broadcaster anonymously if they needed to.
Speaking at the same event, the BBC's Davie says he feels there is an “important, healthy dialogue” to have around imbalances of power.
He said: “I wanted to echo Alex’s words which I thought were extremely well put which is I think we just can’t be complacent. And this is not an issue that can be just put down as wholly historic, if I’m honest…
“I think there’s an important, healthy dialogue to have around these deep imbalances of power.”
Davie added that he feels there is a “deep responsibility” for leaders to act on these issues.
Paramount+ has followed the BBC and Channel 4 in taking down Brand’s content from its channels and catch-up services.
The streamer has removed Brand’s comedy show, Live in New York City,
Paramount+ follows BBC and Channel 4 and removes comedian’s show (The Independent)
Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage writes to social media site X to ask if owner Elon Musk, who changed its name from Twitter, “has personally intervened in any decisions on Russell Brand’s status on the platform”.
Dinenage has also written to other video hosting sites and social media outlets on Wednesday to ask whether Brand can make “profit from his content” on their platforms.
These include X, where the presenter has 11.2 million followers on the site formerly known as Twitter, Rumble where has 1.4 million followers, and Instagram which has 3.8 million followers and is run by Meta.
Dinenage also pointed to a response by Musk following Brand posting a video on Friday denying the allegations and the comedian and actor saying he has been “promiscuous” but that all of his relationships have been “consensual”.
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband says he regrets giving an interview to Brand ahead of the 2015 general election.
Miliband spoke to Brand about the importance of voting for the comedian’s YouTube web series The Trews.
Asked about the interview at an event on Wednesday, Miliband, who is now Labour’s shadow net zero secretary, said “I regret doing it” but stressed he felt “duty bound” at the time to counter Brand’s comments claiming that voting had no impact.
Ed Miliband says he regrets 2015 election interview with Russell Brand (Evening Standard)
Thursday 21 September
Police looking into the rape and sexual assault allegations made against Brand are receiving help from a team which was set up after Jimmy Savile’s abuse came to light
The Hydrant Programme – national experts on child sexual abuse inquiries – have urged people to report any allegations to investigators.
In a statement, a spokesman for the programme said: “We are supporting the Metropolitan Police in their response to recent allegations and would urge any victim or survivor who feels ready to report any allegations of sexual assault to come forward and speak to officers.”
Formerly Operation Hydrant, the group – which helps with policy and strategy – was established in 2014 in the wake of the Savile sexual abuse scandal.
The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), says that it could recommend sanctions for harmful behaviour amid the sexual assault allegations made against Brand.
Jen Smith, the interim CEO of CIISA, said people could be kicked off professional bodies or receive an “educational intervention” – but would not be fined.
However, she said that CIISA “will be looking at appropriate recommendations in terms of looking at the behaviour and what is the necessary intervention”.
CIISA is being set up to uphold and improve standards of behaviour across the creative industries.
