Russell Brand denies rape and assaulting a girl who was just 16

ACTOR and comedian Russell Brand was last night accused of sexually assaulting four women – including a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

- Jon Coates

The allegations include rape, sex and emotional abuse, and controlling behaviour at the peak of his fame between 2006 and 2013.

At the time Brand was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4, before starring in Hollywood films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek. Brand vehemently denies the allegations and in a video posted online on Friday, stated all of his relationships have been consensual, before accusing the media of a “coordinated attack”.

The Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee Chair Dame Caroline Dinenage said that MPs would be “closely monitoring” the response to the allegations.

“The Sunday Times has reported some very serious and concerning allegations against Russell Brand.

“In yet another story of alleged power exploitation within the TV industry, his behaviour has been characterised as an ‘open secret’ by those in his orbit,” she said.

“We are keen to understand the response of the police to the body of evidence collected.”

In the clip, 48-year-old Brand claimed he was facing a “litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks”. He said: “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I refute. These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies and as I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.”