Allegations of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour made against ex-comedian who was jailed on Monday
Russell Brand has been accused of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour by a further six women, according to a report.
The comedian, 51, is accused of having sex with a woman without her consent and then apologising afterwards, an investigation by the Times and the Sunday Times said.
The newspapers also alleged the comedian continued having sex with another woman after she asked him to stop because he was hurting her.
Brand, 51, was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on Monday after being convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan and sexually assaulting three women in separate incidents between 2004 and 2009. He was cleared of two further charges of rape and one of attempted indecent assault at Southwark crown court in London.
The Times reported that a woman said she had an on-off relationship with the actor in the late 2000s after a professional meeting at his London home.
On one occasion, she said they were in bed together when he moved to initiate sex. Having noticed he was not wearing a condom, she said she asked him to stop.
She told the Times: “And then he was very close, on top of me, and sort of pushing – but I knew he didn’t have a condom on and I said: ‘No, stop,’ and I started to sort of try and move. And … that wasn’t happening.”
The woman added she decided at that moment that “I’m not going to fight” because “who knows what he could do”.
After the alleged incident, she said Brand apologised to her in person and by text message. “I justified it in my head by saying to myself: at least he admitted it.”
Another woman who encountered Brand when she was queueing to meet him with a friend in 2007 aged 19 said she told him during sex: “It’s painful”, according to the report.
She alleged he would not stop, adding: “And then it gets worse and it’s really painful. And I say ‘stop’ and he doesn’t stop.”
The woman claimed he said afterwards: “Tonight was consensual. Nobody did anything they didn’t want to do.”
Brand is also accused of misconduct by a fan, then in her late 20s, who met him after he performed at The Chapel venue in San Francisco in 2013, who claimed he “manhandled” her and forced his hand down her trousers, telling the Times: “I didn’t resist. I just sort of let it happen.”
Another woman, then in her mid-twenties, said Brand approached her in 2005 at a music festival and told her: “Please I just need to have sex with you, I will pay you.”
According to the Times investigation, Brand is also accused of misconduct by a woman who was in her late 20s when she won a BBC 6 Music competition and was invited as a guest on his show in 2006.
After seeing each other sporadically for the next year, she claimed the comedian told her to lick a toilet seat at his house and “got angry” when she refused, adding: “[He] seemed pissed off that I wouldn’t let him humiliate me.”
Another woman, who worked at a London venue Brand visited regularly in 2015, said a member of Brand’s staff told her there: “Russell wants you” and said: “He’s in the disabled toilets”.
She said when she went in the lights were off and Brand claimed he wanted toilet paper, but grabbed her when she went to hand it to him.
The new allegations could not be reported until his criminal case ended to avoid prejudicing proceedings. The Times reported that “extensive steps” were taken to corroborate the claims and that none of the sources were paid.
The newspapers reported that Brand was approached for commentwyer reportedly said he would consider “injunctive relief” but did not send any response to the allegations despite being given additional time and an agreed deadline passing. Brand has previously denied wrongdoing and claimed all his relationships were consensual
The prime minister, Andy Burnham, has said the media industry needs to “look at itself” and “step forward” to protect women and girls following Brand’s rape conviction and allegations of sexual misconduct made against the comedian David Walliams in an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News.
Walliams has denied the allegations. Brand’s lawyer was contacted for comment.
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Source: www.theguardian.com
