Russell Brand’s last major TV job in the UK reportedly ended with him being dropped after he was accused of being a “sexual predator” while the show was being recorded, a new report suggests.
Deadline reported on Monday (18 September) that Brand was booked as a judge on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle in 2018 but only lasted one season after facing claims on-camera that he had sexually assaulted women.
Brand is currently facing several allegations of sexual assault as highlighted in a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. He denies any criminal wrongdoing.
As part of the joint investigation, four women alleged assaults between 2006 and 2013, one of which was 16 at the time.
The Met Police has urged any alleged victims to contact them and has said it has received another allegation of sexual assault from 2003.
Since it published its report, The Times has said it has been contacted by "several women" with claims about the actor and comedian.
However, it added that these allegations have not been investigated yet and will now be "rigorously checked."
Russell Brand was a judge on Roast Battle alongside Katherine Ryan
Citing three sources close to the Fulwell 73 production, Deadline reports that Roast Battle judge Katherine Ryan turned the heat on Brand a number of times during filming but that her allegations did not make the final edit.
The outlet also states that Brand is said to have demanded that producers protect him from being roasted by his fellow comedians.
According to Deadline sources, Fulwell 73 became uncomfortable with the rumours surrounding Brand and the comedian's unwillingness to be roasted gave the production company the chance to drop him from the programme.
Katherine Ryan made headlines in 2022 after stating that it was an "open secret" that a British, male comedian who she had worked with was an alleged "sexual predator".
Speaking on Louis Theroux's Interviews series, Ryan said: "I informed him to his face that he was a predator".
At the time, she did not name the star or detail when and where she had made the accusation.
Deadline said it has confirmed with multiple sources that Ryan was referring to Brand and Roast Battle.
The publication further suggested that the incident on Roast Battle may have been a turning point in Brand’s career, given he did not appear on UK TV screens thereafter, except for on The Great Celebrity Bake Off.
Fulwell 73 did not comment to Deadline, but Paramount said:
“We are aware of the very serious allegations raised in the investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Dispatches. Russell Brand was a presenter on MTV at periods between 2000-2012 and was a panellist on Comedy Central UK’s Roast Battle in 2017.
“We are not currently aware of any reports of misconduct having been raised with MTV or Comedy Central, but if any are brought forward they will be investigated. The welfare of all those working on, or contributing to, our shows is our highest priority and today we have robust duty of care procedures in place on all programmes produced for us including confidential whistleblowing lines.”
On Friday night - ahead of the Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches going public with their investigation - Brand issued a video statement denying unspecified “criminal allegations” set to be published against him.
Russell Brand denies allegations.
In it, the comedian said: “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’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that.”
Brand went on to question if there was a wider agenda to the reporting, saying that he had been “almost too transparent” about his behaviour.
He stated: “To see that transparency metastasised into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?"
Saying that he "seriously" refutes these "very, very serious criminal allegations," he added:
“Also, it’s worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack."
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisishelp.ieor by calling a 24hr helpline run by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 77 8888.Read more:
Brand is currently facing several allegations of sexual assault as highlighted in a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. He denies any criminal wrongdoing.
As part of the joint investigation, four women alleged assaults between 2006 and 2013, one of which was 16 at the time.
The Met Police has urged any alleged victims to contact them and has said it has received another allegation of sexual assault from 2003.
Since it published its report, The Times has said it has been contacted by "several women" with claims about the actor and comedian.
However, it added that these allegations have not been investigated yet and will now be "rigorously checked."
