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16th September 2023
09:32am BST
Russell Brand has issued a video statement denying unspecified "criminal allegations" set to be published against him.
The 48-year-old comedian released a video on YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, Friday, explaining that had received an "extremely disturbing" letter and email from a TV company and newspaper which listed a "litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks".
In the two minute and 45 second video, Brand denied the allegations.
The star's denial comes as anticipation built Friday that The Times and Channel 4's Dispatches programmes was set to break a major story. The subject and exact nature of the reports was not detailed.
The Dispatches 'Special Report' is due to air at 9pm Saturday.
The Mirror reported that the documentary is set to examine the behaviour of an A-list name, and is said to be hugely damaging.
In Brand's video, he began by telling his followers that this "isn't the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story, I am the news."
He explained that he has received a letter, or letters, and an email, from a mainstream media TV company and a newspaper listing "a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel".
Brand went on to say some of the allegations contained in the correspondence were "very serious": "Amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, often very serious allegations that I absolutely 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'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: "And to see that transparency metastasised into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?
"Particularly when we've seen coordinated media attacks before, like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn't approve of, and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language. "
Brand added: "I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, watch out, Russell. They're coming from you. You're getting too close to the truth. Russell Brand did not kill himself. I know that a year ago there was a spate of articles.
"Russell Brand’s a conspiracy theorist, Russell Brand’s right wing. I'm aware of news media making phone calls, sending letters to people I know for ages and ages. It's being clear to me, or at least it feels to me like there's a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices. And I mean, my voice along with your voice. I don't mind them using my books and my standout to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past."
Ending his video, Brand made clear that he seriously refuted "these very, very serious criminal allegations."
"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," Brand said.
"Now, I don't wanna get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I'm being attacked and plainly they're working very closely together. We are obviously going to look into this matter 'cause it's very, very serious. In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free."
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