British broadcaster the BBC has revealed that it has received five complaints about Russell Brand regarding his conduct while he worked as a radio host at the organisation.
Three of these complaints were made before he was publicly accused of rape in September.
Two more were made in the past two months and relate to workplace conduct.
They are not sexual in nature, the broadcaster said.
The complaints regard “inappropriate conduct” and are said to include “urinating in bottles in a BBC studio, inappropriate use of BBC cars and claims his conduct in and around the studio falling below the standards expected of someone engaged by the BBC”.
The BBC said that getting to the bottom of the allegations has not been a “straightforward task”.
Brand is the subject of multiple abuse complaints from women which first came to light in September following an investigation by UK newspaper The Times and Channel 4 current affairs program Dispatches.
Those allegations centred on four women who accused him of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse. Since then further claims by other women have been made.
Brand has vociferously denied the allegations and said that while he was promiscuous any sexual encounters were consensual.
The star came to prominence as a stand up comic and British TV and radio presenter. He had starring roles in several Hollywood movies including Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek and the Arthur remake.
Between 2006 and 2008 Brand presented shows on BBC Radio.
In recent years, he has chiefly been known a podcast presenter.
In September, the BBC said one of its former senior managers Peter Johnston would conduct a review into Brand’s conduct while at the network and the BBC’s response to any allegations.
“The passage of time means this is not a straightforward task – for example, the BBC did not maintain a centralised record of staff complaints regarding bullying and harassment (including sexual harassment) at the time,” said Mr Johnston in a statement released on Tuesday, UK time.
Mr Johnston said “it would appear that no disciplinary action” was taken against Brand while he was employed by the BBC.
The BBC said that claims had been made about teenage girls being driven to Brand’s home in cars contracted to the organisation.
However the broadcaster said it had been unable to verify those claims because information on who was in the vehicles is no longer available.
“This means that we have not been able to identify the precise details of this or any records or details of specific journeys or bookings made for Russell Brand,” the public broadcaster said.
The two new complaints have been reported since the scandal erupted over Brand’s alleged behaviour.
Three other complaints were made prior to September’s allegations.
One was lodged in 2019 when the star allegedly exposed himself to a woman in a BBC office in Los Angeles in 2008.
In that incident, a woman told the BBC that she went to the bathroom which was located near the radio studio where Brand was pre recording a show.
She claimed Brand had followed her in and allegedly said: “I’m gonna f*** you”.
Though she claimed she responded, “No, you’re not,” Brand allegedly “pulled out his flaccid penis on his hand”.
She allegedly repeatedly told him, “No, you’re not going to f*** me,” but admitted that there was “a bit of banter going on” because she “didn’t know what to do”.
She said he eventually put his penis back in his pants, at which point she noticed that “the door was closed behind him” – though she wasn’t sure “whether he locked it or not”.
Soon after, she said someone from Brand’s team started “banging” on the door to let him know he was “wanted in the radio studio”.
During the subsequent radio show, Brand laughed at how he had showed his penis to a woman just 25 minutes beforehand.
The BBC was informed of the claims in 2019 but no formal action was taken at the time.
“We have spoken to a number of individuals, including some who were based in Los Angeles at the time, but the work on this continues,” said Mr Johnston who added that his continuing review would include examining what was broadcast at the time.
Russell Brand has steadfastly said he is innocent of the allegations.
He made a detailed statement and commented on the claims in September.
“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,” he said in a YouTube video.
“Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well.”
At least ten women are understood to have come forward to make public claims against the comedian so far.
Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and abuse by four women including, one of whom was aged 16 at the time.
Channel 4’s Dispatches programme, which aired on Channel 4 on September 16, one woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand during a three-month relationship when she was 16.
Another alleged she was raped at his Los Angeles home in 2012.
The allegations also include emotional and physical abuse.
One of the claimants also says they were sexually assaulted while working as an actress on the set of a movie in 2010.
A lawsuit claims the Brand exposed himself to the woman on set before forcing her to perform sex acts on him in a bathroom stall.
More Coverage
Channel 4 is conducting its own probe over the time Brand worked for the channel as a presenter.
The Metropolitan Police and Thames Valley Police (TVP) are also probing allegations made against Brand.
- With The Sun
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2023-11-14 14:02:45Z
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