Four women interviewed by the Sunday Times<\/em> newspaper and Channel 4 TV\u2019s Dispatches<\/em> documentary program accused Brand of sexual offences, including rape, between 2006 and 2013.<\/p>\n Russell Brand pictured during the height of his fame in 2009. The allegations of sexual assault cover the years 2006 to 2013.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Simon Schluter<\/cite><\/p>\n The women, who have not been named, included one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with Brand \u2013 then 31 \u2013 when she was 16. Another woman said Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.<\/p>\n Brand has denied the allegations.<\/p>\n The Met said that since the allegations were made public on Saturday, it had received a report of an assault alleged to have taken place in Soho, central London, in 2003. That is three years before the earliest of the alleged assaults reported by the media outlets.<\/p>\n \u201cOfficers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support,\u201d the Met said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe first spoke with the Sunday Times<\/em> on Saturday, September 16 and have since made further approaches to the Sunday Times<\/em> 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The Times<\/em> said on Monday that more women had contacted the newspaper with allegations against Brand following the publication of the article and that each allegation would be rigorously checked.<\/p>\n The original allegations reported by the Times<\/em> and Channel 4 cover a period when Brand was a major star in Britain with a growing profile in the US.<\/p>\n Known for his unbridled standup routines, he hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his sex addiction and battles with drugs and alcohol, and appeared in several Hollywood movies. Brand was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012. He has since remarried.<\/p>\n Brand was suspended by the BBC in 2008 for making lewd prank calls to Fawlty Towers<\/em> actor Andrew Sachs in which he boasted about having sex with Sachs\u2019 granddaughter. The incident drew thousands of complaints to the publicly funded broadcaster.<\/p>\n The BBC, Channel 4 and the production company behind the Big Brother<\/em> reality series \u2013 spinoffs of which were hosted by Brand \u2013 all say they have launched investigations into Brand\u2019s behaviour and the way in which any subsequent complaints were handled.<\/p>\n Brand also has been dropped by talent agency Tavistock Wood, which said it had been \u201chorribly misled\u201d by him.<\/p>\n Victims and the media also have to take account of Britain\u2019s claimant-friendly libel laws, which put the burden of proof on those making allegations.<\/p>\n In recent years, Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built up a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories. His YouTube channel, which has more than 6 million subscribers, includes COVID-19 conspiracies, vaccine misinformation and interviews with right-wing broadcasters, including Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan.<\/p>\n He also continues to tour as a comedian, performing to hundreds of people in a London venue on Saturday evening as the Channel 4 documentary was broadcast.<\/p>\n Multiple comedians working in the UK took to social media after the Channel 4 broadcast saying that Brand\u2019s behaviour was an \u201copen secret\u201d.<\/p>\n One comedian, Daniel Sloss, told Dispatches<\/em> and the Times<\/em> that women working the British comedy circuit had a WhatsApp group to share warnings about Brand.<\/p>\n Ellie Tomsett, a senior lecturer in media and communications at Birmingham City University who studies Britain\u2019s standup circuit, said Brand was a product of a live comedy scene that was riddled with misogyny \u2013 and still is, despite progress made by women and others to diversify the comic landscape.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we\u2019ve had a rise of popular feminism \u2026 we\u2019ve also had a rise in popular misogyny epitomised by the likes of [social media influencer] Andrew Tate, but evident in all aspects of society, and definitely reflected on the UK comedy circuit,\u201d Tomsett said<\/p>\n \u201cMore and more things are springing up to try and counter this, but the idea that it\u2019s something that happened in the past and doesn\u2019t happen anymore is, quite frankly, nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n