Los Angeles: Actor-comedian Russell Brand once urged a 15-year-old to have a sex-themed birthday party when she turned 16.
Brand, who has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional and physical abuse by six women, including one who said she was 16 at the time of their reported relationship, made the remarks on his BBC radio series ‘The Russell Brand Show’, a clip of which has resurfaced since the accusations against him emerged on 16 September, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Brand told the young female caller in 2007 when she rang asking for advice for a theme for her 16th birthday party, “I suppose you’re 16, you can’t really drink booze yet or any drugs because that’s illegal. Now, you will be legally allowed to have sexual partners. I think you should theme the party around legal sex.”
The ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ actor then suggested the teen have a vampire-themed gathering to “heighten the mood of danger.” He added a masked ball may be another option, describing it as “in its way erotic” but “in a suppressed, suitable way for a 16-year-old girl,” reports aceshowbiz.com.
Brand has denied all the accusations against him, saying any of his past relationships have been consensual.
Four of the six women accusing Brand came forward as part of a media investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4’s “Dispatches” show into his treatment of women. They say his alleged abuse was committed from 2006 to 2013.
The 31-year-old woman, who said she was 16 when she was with Brand, claimed he called her “The Child” and got her to read “Lolita”. She also told how Brand allegedly got her to perform a sex act that made her choke and then had to punch him in the stomach to get him off her.
A second accuser claimed Brand raped her against a wall at his Los Angeles home in 2012, five months after he finalised his divorce from Katy Perry, 38. A third accuser claimed the comic once tried to assault her while he was naked and she was fully clothed and said she saw a “black, like the devil” come over his eyes during the alleged incident.
The fourth accuser claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand, who she alleges was physically and emotionally abusive towards her. A fifth woman, Jordan Martin, wrote in her 2014 book “kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity: A Memoir” that Brand subjected her to emotional abuse, sexual abuse and made her brush her teeth so hard her gums bled.
The Metropolitan Police said on Monday, September 18 another alleged victim of the comic’s had claimed she was assaulted by Brand in London’s Soho in 2003.
Hours before the investigation into him by the Times and Channel 4 broke on Saturday, Brand issued a furious denial of the claims against him in a 2 minute, 45 second video posted to his 11 million-plus followers on X and YouTube.
He said the claims were part of a “serious, concerted agenda” to control “spaces” such as his YouTube channel and that he felt “attacked.” Brand also promised to “look into this matter” as he considered it “very serious,” before signing off by urging his fans to “stay free.”
The comic has since been barred from monetising his channel on YouTube. He’s also been ditched by his talent agency, pulled out of two of his businesses, had his upcoming book project axed by his long-standing publisher and stand-up shows ditched by promoters days before they were due to go ahead this week.
–IANS
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