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One of Russell Brand’s victims says when she told Channel 4 she had been assaulted by the comedian during a shoot for the network, senior management “brushed [it] under the carpet.”
Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six
months in prison on Monday after being convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault last week.
During the sentencing hearing the victims submitted statements about how the assaults had impacted their lives.
One victim, who in 2009 was ordered to give Brand a massage before the pushed his face into her groin and verbally abused her during a shoot, said she had reported the assault to Channel 4 but nothing was done.
“Immediately after the incident I spoke up, and sadly it was brushed under the carpet by senior management,” she said in her statement, which was read out by a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service. “This really affected me and had something similar happened again at that time, I know I would not have had the confidence to speak up again. There was a culture at the time which meant I felt I had to just carry on and not talk about it anymore.”
The CEO of Channel 4 at the time was Andy Duncan, who stepped down in Nov. 2009. In 2023 the network’s documentary strand “Dispatches” broadcast the result of a joint investigation with The Sunday Times about Brand in which a number of women alleged they had been sexually assaulted by the comedian. None of the alleged victims were involved in the recent court hearing although one is now believed to be assisting with a further police investigation into other incidents.
She said the assault has continued to impact her life. “Following the incident with Rusell Brand I was really upset. I was wary and on my toes about something similar happening again,” she said in the statement. “I felt I lost my trust in people and felt that my working environment wasn’t safe. From that point onwards I made sure that I wasn’t sitting in a room alone and consciously made sure I had a colleague with me in a professional environment.”
In his sentencing remarks, the judge, Justice Bennathan, referred to the incident, saying it was an example of Brand’s “staggering arrogance” and showed how his “entourage indulged your dreadful behaviour.”
“[The victim] reluctantly pressed her thumbs into your shoulders, then exclaimed how bony you were, leading your acolytes to laugh (possibly at you rather than her), and you to leap up and start insulting her with childish but sexualised comments,” the judge told Brand before handing down the sentence.
The two members of Brand’s entourage accused of ordering the victim to give the massage were Jack Bayles and Gareth Roy. Bayles, who is head of comedy at “I May Destroy You” producer Various Artists Limited, announced following last week’s verdict he would be stepping back from his role until further notice.
In a statement, he said he couldn’t remember the incident but added: “I would never willingly or proactively wish to make anyone feel uncomfortable, unsafe or unsupported at work. If I was ever present when Brand acted inappropriately and I failed to spot it and step in, then I sincerely apologise.”
Variety has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
