Russell Brand thanks ‘questioning’ supporters following week of sex allegations

Russell Brand has denied the allegations (James Manning/PA)

Russell Brand has thanked his supporters for “questioning” the allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him.

The 48-year-old has strongly denied accusations made by four women in an investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

In the three-minute clip, posted on YouTube, Rumble and X, Brand said the week since the claims were published had been “extraordinary and distressing”.

He said: “I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that you’ve been presented with.”

He did not directly address the claims made against him and lashed out at the government, big tech companies and media organisations.

I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that you've been presented with

He claimed moves to prevent him making advertising revenue from his content on social media platforms came “in the context of the Online Safety Bill”, which aims to tackle harmful content on the internet.

The Bill, which was years in the drafting, recently cleared Parliament and awaits royal assent to pass into law.

In the video, in which he addressed his followers as “awakening wonders”, he said: “By now you’re probably aware that the British government have asked big tech platforms to censor our online content and that some online platforms have complied with that request.

“What you may not know is that this happens in the context of the Online Safety Bill, which is a piece of UK legislation that grants sweeping surveillance and censorship powers, and it’s a law that has already been passed.”

Brand said he would return to his regular show on Rumble – an online video platform which refused to follow YouTube in blocking the comedian from earning advertising revenue on its site.

Brand described the streaming site as having made a “clear commitment to free speech”.

Referring to mainstream media organisations, he said: “It’s clear that these organisations collaborate in constructing narratives, whether it’s about the war or the pandemic, and of course there are other examples.

“It is very clear to me that we have to be very, very cautious indeed.”