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A judge said Russell Brand would be sentenced to a lengthy prison term on Monday after a London court found the comedian guilty of raping a young fan and sexually assaulting three women.
The verdict has also raised questions about how Brand avoided justice for so long, CNN reported, amid renewed scrutiny of the relationship between fame, power and abuse in Britain.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said on Sunday that sexual abuse remained a problem in the media industry. “Hand on heart I can’t say to you as the culture secretary that this is not happening today and in fact, if I had to wager, I would say it is,” she told the BBC.
Nandy said women were often afraid to report offences because “speaking up has a very heavy cost.”
This week, the television show “Married at First Sight UK” was cancelled following an investigation into rape allegations, Channel 4 said. British media also reported that an unnamed celebrity was seeking to prevent the publication of his name in connection with sexual misconduct allegations.
A Metropolitan Police superintendent said after the verdict that Brand’s sense of entitlement had grown alongside his profile as an actor and comedian. Police said they were continuing to investigate two further rape allegations against him, while prosecutors were considering whether to bring additional charges, according to the Press Association.
Senior police officer Andy Furphy said he hoped the conviction would send a message that no one was above the law, regardless of fame or power.
Actors and broadcasters respond to the verdict
British actress Sarah Solemani, who starred in the Bafta-winning sitcom “Him & Her,” wrote in an opinion piece that Brand was finally facing justice but warned that other abusers were “still hiding in plain sight.”
Solemani said the comedy industry had brought her into close contact with more alleged sexual predators than she would expect, some of whom continued to work. In an article published in The Guardian on Friday, she described withdrawing from projects after being told that a senior executive was widely alleged to have raped a colleague and that another well-known comic was working with a person alleged to be a rapist.
Comedian Katherine Ryan, who worked with Brand on a show in 2018, said on her podcast that she felt both “grief” and “relief.” She praised the survivors who came forward despite Brand’s fame, power, money and fans who were ready to attack them.
The BBC reissued a statement after the verdict about Brand’s time at the broadcaster in the 2000s. It said it was “of great concern” that some people had felt unable to raise concerns about his behaviour, and apologised again to those affected by the culture and failings of the time.
Brand’s convictions relate to events in 2004, 2005 and 2009. In 2006, he began co-hosting “The Russell Brand Show” on BBC Radio 2, a weekly Saturday-night programme featuring frank and often explicit conversations.
The show ended abruptly in 2008 after Brand and co-host Jonathan Ross left a series of misogynistic voice messages for actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter. During a live radio segment, the pair made lewd remarks about Brand’s relationship with Georgina Baillie. The incident prompted several resignations and a national backlash.
Baillie expressed support for Brand’s victims after Thursday’s verdict and spoke about the impact of the BBC scandal on her life. “Justice has been served. Although he never raped or assaulted me as I have always said, I didn’t know what happened in the privacy of the rooms that the victims and Russell were in and their evidence was compelling,” she told the Daily Mail. “I now want Russell to right the wrongs.”
The case is the latest in a series of historic abuse investigations involving former BBC stars, including sex offenders Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile, who were prominent on family television during their careers.
A BBC spokesperson said the industry must work to ensure that people who suffer abuse feel able to report it and that their concerns are taken seriously.
Investigations into allegations against Brand
Allegations of rape and sexual assault against Brand became public in a joint 2023 investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s “Dispatches” programme. Brand denied the allegations in the programme, which concerned women who were not involved in the criminal trial.
Esella Hawkey, executive producer of the documentary “Russell Brand: In Plain Sight,” said she was pleased with the verdict but would have preferred that the events had never happened. She told CNN that it could be difficult for people to challenge high-profile talent with substantial financial value to broadcasters.
Hawkey said television and broadcasting had a problem with responding to such behaviour and enabling those responsible, and said she hoped the case would prompt the industry to examine itself.
Channel 4 news director Louise Compton said on Thursday that women involved in the criminal case came forward after watching the channel’s “Dispatches” film. She praised their courage.
After the 2023 revelations, Channel 4 launched an investigation into whether staff had known about Brand’s behaviour while he was involved in programmes made for the broadcaster between 2004 and 2007. The network said it found no evidence that employees knew about the conduct described in the investigation.
However, former Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon apologised over a separate allegation about Brand in 2009, saying it had not been investigated as it should have been. “In my view, it is a matter of regret for our industry that repugnant behaviours were tolerated – and indeed appeared on-air – in the past,” Mahon said.
