Russell Brand: A woman claims that the radio 2 personality exposed himself to her before laughing about it
Russell Brand: A woman claims that the radio 2 personality exposed himself to her before laughing about it
Russell Brand has been accused by a woman of kissing her and then joking about it on his BBC radio show.
The woman claims that it took place in 2008 while she was employed by the BBC in the same Los Angeles building. She claims that the event left her speechless.
He was captured on camera moments later chuckling with his co-host after she said Brand "showed his willy to a lady."
On the most recent accusation, Brand has not yet responded.
His co-host Matt Morgan admitted to the BBC that he was "unaware of the nature of this encounter until now."
This article may offend some readers due to its use of language and graphic details.
Brand has never before been charged with sexual wrongdoing and overheard discussing it.
Furthermore, it makes the BBC wonder why that pre-recorded segment of the programme was permitted to be shown days later.
The woman never lodged an official grievance. The event was reported to BBC management in 2019, but no official action was taken.
The BBC issued a statement expressing regret over the allegations and promising to look into them as part of an assessment of Brand's tenure there.
Between 2006 and 2013, Brand, 48, was also accused of rape and sexual abuse by four additional women. He has refuted the allegations, claiming that all of his interactions were "consensual."
brief grey presentation line
The woman, who we will refer to as Olivia, worked for a media organisation in the same building as the BBC office in Los Angeles.
She claims that when Brand and his crew knocked on her house on June 16, 2008, they were there to pre-record an edition of The Russell Brand Show for Radio 2.
She passed the radio studio on her way to the loo to obtain some sinus medication. She claims that as she knelt down to search the medicine cabinet, she felt a presence behind her.
She whirled around to confront the crotch of a man. "I was startled and stood up when I realised it was Russell, the man I had let in."
She remembers him telling her in the subsequent talk, "Oh, I think you're a bit alright. I believe you to be somewhat okay.
She claims he informed her that he would nickname her Betty. She claims that when she told him that wasn't her name, he said, "Well, I'm gonna fuck you."
I responded, "No, you're not.
According to her, he then "pretty much served it to me as you would be serving someone some food" after pulling out his penis from his hand.
She claims she felt imprisoned because the restroom door was shut.
There was some light joking because I was unsure of what to do.
After that, according to Olivia, he put his penis back in his pants, and she heard a knock on the door. She claims that after receiving a call from someone on his team, Brand departed.
Olivia claims she texted a BBC colleague in the office about what had happened after returning to her desk in anger at what had transpired.
He informed her that he was aware of what had transpired because Brand had mentioned it in the recording studio.
Following the publication earlier this month of The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4's Dispatches the program's investigation into Brand's alleged behaviour, Olivia claims to have located a recording of the programme.
This conversation between Brand and Morgan is included in the episode, which aired on June 21st, 2008.
Morgan: He last exposed his willy to a woman 25 minutes ago.
Brand: (laughs) very simple to evaluate very simple to evaluate
Morgan: The front desk clerk...
Brand: Hey, look...
To Morgan: Take this!
"He got in trouble for ringing a bell, and minutes later he's showing his willy," Morgan continues. Brand's laughter may be heard in the distance.
Olivia, who has never held a receptionist position, claims that when she heard it, she was disgusted.
I'm humiliated, but more than that, I wonder if anything had been done, whether there might not have been as many women who were subjected to the terrible things we're hearing about in the news right now.
Morgan said in a statement provided to the BBC by his legal counsel: "I was not aware up to this point of the nature of this contact.
"I have voiced my regret in light of the show's impact in the past, and this is yet another illustration.
"Reading the recent media coverage has been extremely distressing, and I must once again express my utter condemnation of any kind of mistreatment of women."
Although Olivia never complained, she admitted that she had hoped that the BBC would get in touch with her after hearing the recording. That never took place.
"Oh, that's kind of odd that nobody has come to apologise to me for his behaviour, I thought to myself. Because it was so graphic, I reasoned that possibly that particular audio had been edited out, which is probably why I never pursued it.
She said she believed no one would take her seriously: I'm a blonde. Accented."
She claims that she was also concerned about how having it raised officially may affect her and her family.
"Had I known audio existed, I surely would have done something as the incident should have been corroborated," the woman claims.
shock and astonishment
Over the years, she recalls telling the incident to BBC employees, who would always laugh it off.
All of us did. The feeling was one of disbelief and "What, did this really happen? "
A BBC employee who had spoken to Olivia in 2019 told management about the event.
According to her, no one from BBC management personally spoke with her about the incident, and no official action was done.
Olivia claims that the BBC has let her down.
"What made that output come out in that way? Why did the BBC decide that was the right way to go out? I'm really baffled as to why they didn't look into this sooner.
And I have a suspicion that all those episodes—which I can't even bear to listen to—have considerably worse.
In his statement, Morgan stated that he "was never aware of any allegations of serious sexual misconduct against him" and that he had "several years ago" stopped working with Brand.
As he reflected on his time at the BBC, he said, "I regret learning that a show I was a part of occasionally caused colleagues to feel uncomfortable."
A assessment of Russell Brand's tenure at the BBC has already been announced by Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, who took over as the organization's director of audio and music a few days after the programme aired.
The BBC invited the woman involved to get in touch with them in its statement regarding this occurrence. The statement read, "We would be eager to hear from her and anyone else who may have information."
"We will of course speak to the consulate team and anyone who was working there in 2008 as part of this," the statement stated.
The statement continued, "Furthermore, the director general has been quite clear that some broadcasts from that time were, and are, indefensible and absolutely inappropriate, and would never be aired today.
After leaving nasty voicemails for Andrew Sachs, the actor who played Andrew Sachs in Fawlty Towers, about Brand's relationship with Sachs' granddaughter, Brand and presenter Jonathan Ross quit their jobs at the BBC in October 2008.
Olivia claims that she spoke with her family last weekend about the incident.
'Why didn't you kick him in the nuts and drop elbow him,' my sister questioned me.
I couldn't have carried out it. I managed to leave the bathroom unscathed, which was what I needed to do.
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