Topline
Russell Brand has been dropped by London-based talent agency Tavistock Wood after four women accused the comedian and actor of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse, the agency told multiple news outlets, arguing Brand misled the agency about the allegations against him—Brand has denied the claims.
Russell Brand speaks onstage during MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Aerosmith at West Hall at … [+]
Key Facts
Tavistock Wood removed Brand from its talent website and said agents “now believe we were horribly misled by him” after the British actor “categorically and vehemently denied” a sexual assault allegation first reported to the agency back in 2020.
An unnamed woman who came forward in the Brand investigation—released by several major British media outlets—said she was just 16 years old when she started a relationship with him that included sexual assault and tried to report her experience to Brand’s literary agent, the co-founder of Tavistock Wood, at the time.
She told The Sunday Times of London she did not receive a reply but did get an “aggressive” and “insulting” response from the actor’s lawyer, who implied she was blackmailing Brand.
Tavistock Wood confirmed in a statement to the Independent, BBC and other news outlets that it received the 2020 report but believed Brand when he denied it.
Two other women said that Brand sexually assaulted them, a fourth said she was raped in his Los Angeles home and others accused him of predatory and abusive behavior, allegations that came to light in a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4.
Brand posted a video on his YouTube channel before the report was released calling the investigation a “coordinated attack” and denying the incidents ever occurred.
Representatives for Tavistock Wood did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Sunday.
Key Background
Channel 4—a publicly owned broadcast TV channel—and newspapers The Times and The Sunday Times have been investigating Brand since 2019, and said they spoke to hundreds of sources and collected “substantial information to corroborate their allegations” against Brand. Sources told the papers Brand has had a longstanding reputation for abusive behavior against women and Daniel Sloss, one of several comedians interviewed by The Times, said women had been “warning each other about Russell” for years before the investigation began. Brand, 48, is a stand-up comedian and actor known for his roles in popular films Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek. He was briefly married to singer Katy Perry, whose concert film Katy Perry: Part of Me included footage of Brand telling her he wanted a divorce via text message minutes before she went on stage. He has been open about his sex life and drug addictions and spoke to Evie Magazine last year about reportedly overcoming an addiction to porn and sex.
Actor Russell Brand and singer Katy Perry attend the premiere of “Get Him To The Greek” at The Greek … [+]
Contra
Brand took to his YouTube channel, which has 6.6 million subscribers, to refute the “extremely egregious and aggressive attacks” against him. He said the outlets investigating him have a “serious and concerted agenda” and have gone after him in part because he has been open about his past “promiscuous consensual conduct.” He called the investigation a “coordinated attack.”
Tangent
Tavistock Wood is a literary and talent agency founded in 2005 by Angharad Wood and Charles Collier. In 2018, BBC-backed Original Talent, which is also the parent company of talent agency Curtis Brown, bought what Variety called a “significant stake” in Brand’s agency. BBC, which worked with Brand before he left “after a serious editorial breach” in 2008, issued a statement encouraging anyone with concerns about Brand or any other BBC employee to come forward. Brand made headlines at the time for urinating in a bottle in full view of production staff and a guest, the Brand investigation alleged. Channel 4, which also worked with Brand for several years in the mid 2000s, said no allegations about him were ever reported to the station.
Further Reading
Russell Brand Accused Of Rape And Sexual Assault By Four Women, Report Says (Forbes)
Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assaults and abuse (The Times)
How The Times and The Sunday Times investigated Russell Brand (The Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/09/17/russell-brands-agents-drop-star-amid-sexual-assault-claims-and-say-they-were-horribly-misled/