Russell Brand investigation: What happened next
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 September 2023
⏱️ 37 minutes
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Summary
Last weekend The Times and The Sunday Times – together with Channel 4's Dispatches – broke the news of allegations against Russell Brand including rape and sexual assault. Russell Brand strongly denies all the allegations.
So what happened next? Today we catch up with The Times’ head of investigations to answer listener questions and examine the fallout from the investigation.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guest: Paul Morgan-Bentley, Head of Investigations, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Links: Decca Aitkenhead’s interview with Russell Brand, published in 2019:
Get in touch: If you have any information you want to share with the team behind this investigation, email investigations@news.co.uk.
You can contact the Stories of Our Times team on storiesofourtimes@thetimes.co.uk.
Clips: Sky News, ABC News, ABC News Australia, Russell Brand on YouTube, GB News, Times Radio, BBC Radio 2, Radio X, Mindhouse Productions/BBC Two, Love Productions/Channel 4.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Last Saturday, after more than four years of detailed investigation, the Times, The Sunday |
| 0:13.9 | Times and Channel 4's Dispatches program broke the news of allegations against Russell |
| 0:20.1 | Brand and the story went everywhere. |
| 0:24.8 | The Sunday Times headline is accused Russell Brand be sex predator who hid in plain sight. |
| 0:30.3 | Russell Brand under fire after multiple women have accused him of sexual assault. |
| 0:34.5 | Sexual assaults, including rape. |
| 0:36.8 | He denies allegations made against him and says past relationships were all consensual. |
| 0:46.8 | But on Saturday night, as we published a special edition of this podcast, |
| 0:51.6 | detailing the horrific allegations and as the Dispatches program went on air, |
| 0:57.5 | Russell Brand was stood on a stage in Wembley being cheered by his supporters. |
| 1:11.2 | Since then, YouTube has stopped Russell Brand making money from his videos and the BBC has pulled |
| 1:18.7 | a number of TV and radio shows featuring Brand from their platforms. |
| 1:23.8 | And it's led to soul-searching conversations about how much of it was ever really appropriate. |
| 1:30.6 | It'd be very nice to meet you one day, Mr Jimmy Savile. You've got a sister you could |
| 1:35.2 | meet me by bringing her along. I mean, I haven't gotten his sisters, but I don't usually meet |
| 1:39.7 | tellers, but if you've got a sister, that's okay. I've got a personal assistant called |
| 1:44.2 | and part of her job description is that anyone I demand she greets, meets, massages, |
| 1:50.3 | she has to do it. She's very attractive, Jimmy. |
| 1:57.8 | Now, five days on, questions remain for Brand's former employers as more women are coming forward |
| 2:05.2 | with allegations against him. We'll have an update on the fallout. And after a slew of conspiracy |
| 2:12.2 | theories online about the investigation, we put your questions to the head of investigations at the |
| 2:18.6 | times about how this story came together. You're listening to stories of our times from the times |
... |
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