How Russell Brand could face prosecution in the US over claims he raped woman in his LA home: Star could face charges if police launch probe into alleged 2012 attack after lawmakers scrapped statute of limitation for rape
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British comedian Russell Brand could face prosecution in the US because of a key change in California’s statute of limitations for rape seven years ago.
The former BBC and Channel 4 star is facing bombshell claims of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse from four women including one who alleged he raped her in his Los Angeles home when she refused a threesome in 2012.
The businesswoman, whose allegations were revealed in a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 dispatches, alleges that the comedian, 48, raped her against a wall after she told him multiple times to ‘get off’.
The alleged victim, who The Times are calling Nadia, was treated at a rape crisis centre on the same day, according to medical records seen by the publication. The notes state that a Los Angeles Police Department officer was alerted.
Brand – who denies all allegations and has today been defended by his father – would previously have been protected in the US because the alleged rape was more than ten years ago but he could now face prosecution if police investigate.
In September 2016, California lawmakers approved a new bill, SB813, to eliminate the state’s 10-year limit on filing rape and related charges after dozens of women accused disgraced comedian Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting them.
British comedian Russell Brand (pictured) could face justice in the US because of a key change in the statute of limitations seven years ago
Screen grab taken from Channel 4 Dispatches trailer of Nadia – or an actress playing Nadia – speaking about her harrowing experience of allegedly being raped in LA by Brand
The businesswoman said she met up with Brand at his LA house where he pushed her against a wall and raped her. Brand could face justice in the US due to a law change in 2016. (Screen grab taken from Channel 4 Dispatches trailer)
The alleged rape victim claims she exchanged numbers with Brand at a party before being invited to his house in June 2012 where they went on to have consensual sex.
The woman, who was in her 30s at the time, met up with Brand again at his house on the morning of July 1, during which she alleges that the comedian raped her.
Text messages from a number – that The Times says it has verified was Brand’s at the time – show that he messaged her that same morning at 3.29am, saying ‘I’m sorry, that was crazy and selfish’.
She said she got into the shower after arriving home and felt unable to move and could not sleep. She did not reply to Brand’s text until 10.59am where she said: ‘You scared the s*** out of me. You’re right I am a lovely person and for you to take advantage of me like that in unexpectable [sic].’
Brand replied that he was ‘very sorry and embarrassed’.
Nadia did not report the alleged rape to police at the time but she gave her underwear and other samples as evidence, which were frozen. She also received therapy sessions at the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Centre’s Rape Treatment Center for the following five months.
Notes obtained by The Times show that Nadia was described as ‘friendly and engaging, but intermittently tearful and seemingly overwhelmed’ when she was first seen.
‘The victim’s primary concern while at the RTC was protecting her reputation as she was worried that, if her assailant’s name was somehow released, then her name will be dragged through the dirt’, the notes said.
Nadia said she was relieved that other women’s allegations were being heard.
She told The Times: ‘I’m super-proud of all the women who have come forward. I know how hard it is – thinking “I’m the only one” and “Who is going to believe me”.
‘It was all very hard to read and to watch but I think it’s very necessary – because he needs to be stopped.’
Nadia added that he ‘cannot hurt me any more’ and said she hopes that he will ‘not hurt anybody else’.
The bombshell allegation is one of a number of those which are claimed to have taken place between 2006 and 2013. One woman has claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand during a three-month relationship with him when she was 16 and still at school.
The BBC is now also facing ‘urgent questions’ after it was claimed that Brand used his company-provided car service to pick the girl up from school.
Both the BBC and Channel 4 have launched internal investigations into separate accusations of predatory behaviour by Brand towards staff and audience members during the time of his employment.
Russell Brand is seen posing with Burlesque dancers Vanessa and Valeria at The Brit Awards 2007 Valentine’s Day photocall, Earls Court, London, on 13 Feb 2007
Russell Brand on Big Brother’s Little Brother on May 31, 2006. Brand presented Big Brother’s Big Mouth for three years before choosing not to return for the eighth series of the show
Former spouse Katy Perry and Russell Brand attend the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in LA on March 7, 2010
Channel 4 has since removed all programmes linked to Brand from its website, including episodes of The Great British Bake Off and Big Brother’s Big Mouth in which he was featured, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Netflix has since been urged to remove his comedy special, titled Re:Birth, from its streaming catalogue.
The maverick actor and stand-up comic has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and blamed the ‘mainstream media’ for the ‘litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks’.
READ MORE: Nadia’s story: Russell Brand raped me against a wall in his Los Angeles home – then texted me to say ‘I’m sorry, that was crazy and selfish’
Brand was dropped by a charity working to end violence against women in light of the accusations. However, he has received support from some public figures, with the likes of Elon Musk, Andrew Tate and Laurence Fox all appearing to back the comedian as he claimed to be the victim of a ‘co-ordinated media attack’.
The comedian’s father Ron Brand, 80, also defended his son today against claims he abused women for years, calling them ‘unproven’. He claimed that dark forces including the BBC are pursuing a ‘vendetta’ against him, as more women came forward to accuse him of abuse.
He said: ‘Is this seriously the most important thing happening in this world? Immigrants? Cost of living? 10s of thousands killed in Ukraine? Who is prioritising at BBC News. Who is really driving this vendetta?’.
He added: ‘With many struggling to pay bills. The unproven accusations of 15 years ago take lead on BBC News?’.
It comes after The Times and Sunday Times claimed several more women have come forward with undisclosed and untested allegations about Brand’s behaviour during the early 2000s. They say the allegations have not been investigated, but will now be ‘rigorously checked’.
The Metropolitan Police has responded to accusations against Brand by encouraging any victims to come forward.
A spokesperson for the force said: ‘We are aware of media reporting of a series of allegations of sexual assault. At this time, we have not received any reports in relation to this.
Brand (pictured in 2008) said that during his ‘time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual’ and that he was ‘always transparent about that’
Russell Brand pictured on Saturday evening leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set
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‘If anyone believes they have been the victim of a sexual assault, no matter how long ago it happened, we would encourage them to contact police.
‘We spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday 16 September. We will be making further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that any victims of crime who they have spoken with are aware of how they may report any criminal allegations to police.’
Among the other complaints raised in the investigation were allegations by a woman, referred to as Alice to protect her identity, who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand as a 16-year-old.
She alleges Brand was ‘preoccupied’ with her being ‘innocent and pure’, and often referred to her as ‘The Child’.
Alice described his behaviour towards her as ‘grooming’ as Brand would allegedly provide her with scripts on how to deceive her parents into allowing her to visit him. She also claimed he would send his ‘BBC car’ to her secondary school to pick her up.
‘The first time I used it, he told me it was booked to take him to his radio show but he had a friend taking him instead so I should use that car,’ she told The Times.
She claimed the chauffeur once took her from Brand’s home to her grandmother’s house and that on a separate occasion the same car ‘picked me up from school’.
Alice added: ‘It was the same car…I knew that that was a BBC car.’
The BBC did not initially commit to an inquiry but amid the growing outcry, it shifted its position last night and a spokesman said it was ‘urgently looking into the issues’.
In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: ‘The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.
‘Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.’
Russell Brand’s comments in full:
Hello there you awakening wonders. Now this is not the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story I am the news.
I have received two extremely disturbing letters – or a letter and an email – one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff, like my community festival should be stopped and I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel.
But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to a time when I was in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I’ve written about extensively in my books I was very, very promiscuous.
During that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well.
And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question is there another agenda at play.
Particularly when we have seen coordinated media attacks before, like Joe Rogan where he dared to take a medicine the mainstream media didn’t approve of and we saw a spate of headlines of media outlets around the world using the same language.
I am aware that you guys in the comments have been for a while saying ‘watch out Russell, they’re coming for you,’ ‘you are getting too close to the truth’, ‘Russell Brand did not kill himself’.’
I know a year ago there was a spate of articles: Russell Brand is a conspiracy theorists; Russell Brand is right wing.
I am aware of newspapers making phone calls, sending letters to people I know. For ages and ages, it’s been clear to me or at least feels to be there’s a serious and consorted agenda to control these kinds of spaces and these kind of voices.
I need my voice along with your voice. I don’t mind them using my books and my stand up to talk about my promiscuous sexual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious, criminal allegations.
Also its worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently in what seems to be to me a coordinated attack.
Now, I don’t want to get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations but I feel like I’m being attacked and plainly they are working very closely together.
We are obviously going to look into this matter because it is very, very serious.
In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake but more importantly than any of that, if you can stay free.
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