Met confirm it is investigating multiple sex offence allegations after Russell Brand reports

By George Lithgow and Josh Payne, Reporters26th September 2023News EnglandNews England, Non-Recent / Historic Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Top Stories

The Metropolitan Police is investigating multiple sex offence allegations following news reports about Russell Brand.

On Monday, the force said it had received a “number of allegations of sexual offences in London” as well as elsewhere in the country.

All of the allegations are non-recent and there have been no arrests, police said.

The comedian and actor has strongly denied accusations made by four women in an investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

During a regular online show on Rumble – an online video platform which refused to follow YouTube in blocking the comedian from earning advertising revenue on its site – on Monday, Brand said he would talk about the “collusion between big tech and government and an apparent concerted effort by legacy media… to silence independent media voices”.

He added: “Obviously, it’s difficult for me to be entirely objective given the events of the last week, but that’s what we must try to do.”

In a statement, Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command, said: “We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us.

“We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take and I want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support.”

The force said it will be offering specialist support to all of the women who have made allegations.

On Saturday, Brand thanked his supporters for “questioning” the allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him.

In a three-minute clip, posted on YouTube, Rumble and X, he said the week since the claims were published had been “extraordinary and distressing”.

In the Dispatches documentary, Brand was accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films.

The Met previously said it had received an allegation of sexual assault in Soho, central London, in 2003, which emerged as the remaining live shows for his Bipolarisation tour were postponed.