Russell Brand has been accused of rape and abuse

A years-long investigation by a trio of British news organizations contains a series of serious allegations against Russell Brand, Longtime comedian and television host who has gained attention across the United States thanks to starring roles in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall And Get Him To The Greek. But as his star rose, an alleged pattern of sexual assault and coercion emerged, according to a report published by the Times. Four women, including one who was 16 at the time, say Brand sexually assaulted them during a series of relationships between 2006 and 2013, while numerous others report harassment, predatory behavior and abuse.

Since his time in Hollywood stardom about a decade ago, Brand has reinvented himself as a vaccine-skeptical political commentator and social media star with a conservative fan base. On Friday he published a video on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube that appears to be a response to the investigations of Times, of the Sunday Times and the series Dispatches of Channel 4 . In the video, Brand said two people who got the vaccine died.

In the video, Brand said that two “mainstream media” outlets with a “serious and concerted agenda” were planning to publish an investigation into his consensual sex, but that the story had “metastasized into something criminal,” blaming the mainstream media of a coordinated attack and claiming that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives. Vanity Fair reached out to Brand representatives for comment following his post on X, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

«The relationships I have had have always been absolutely consensual», Brand says in the video, «I’ve always been transparent about this, almost too transparent. I don’t mind them using my books and show to talk about my promiscuous and consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously reject are these very, very serious criminal charges.”

According to Timesthe news outlets “gave Brand eight days to respond to the detailed allegations, including information that would allow him to recall the alleged incidents,” but the video response is – so far – the only comment Brand has provided regarding the allegations .

The denial appears to have gained the support of X’s owner Elon Musk, who replied: «Of course. This response was given before the publication of the actual report, which was published on Saturday at 4pm BST, which is 11am on the US East Coast.”

Testimonials for the lengthy article began in 2019 and involved “hundreds of people.” The ages of those who have reported assault and abuse against Brand range from one woman who says she had an initially consensual relationship with Brand at age 16 (which is the age of consent in England, according to Rape Crisis England and Wales ) to middle-aged employees and colleagues, who share full details of alleged workplace misconduct (often sexual in nature) and coercive acts.

The story, currently available on the Times websitewill also be the subject of the television report Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches.