Shamed Russell Brand has spoken publicly for the first time about multiple rape allegations he faces – denying the accusations and describing them as ‘hurtful attacks’.
Brand, 48, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s X show Wednesday during a rambling and wide-ranging 45-minute interview where he referenced the allegations he faces and the ongoing police and BBC investigations several times.
‘Of course I deny any allegations… that have been advanced,’ he said, adding: ‘I reject the allegations in the strongest possible terms.’
The star of Arthur and Forgetting Sarah Marshall described the crimes he’s accused of as ‘appalling’ before adding criticism he faces is a ‘deliberate profound attempt to shut down any dissent in an astonishingly aggressive way’.
During the discussion, he says that at the time of the documentary his infant son who was 12 weeks old at the time was undergoing heart surgery.
‘My son was born with a heart condition, while this was happening he was undergoing heart surgery at 12 weeks old,’ he told Carlson.
Brand has been questioned by police twice in relation to a total of nine alleged offences and police inquiries are ongoing. He has always maintained that his relationships were consensual.
Russell Brand shown here during his appearance on Carlson’s show on January 31
Brand has always vehemently denied the claims made against him and claimed his relationships were ‘always consensual’
British police said in September they had launched an investigation into a number of allegations of non-recent sexual offences following media reports that women had accused Brand of a string of sexual assaults.
Brand has rejected what he has described as ‘very serious allegations’, saying on his social media channels he has never had non-consensual sex.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment on Sunday’s report from representatives for Brand.
Speaking on Carlson’s broadcast, Brand said: ‘I put myself in a vulnerable position by being very promiscuous.’
‘Attacks like this, accused of what I consider to be the most appalling crimes, is very painful and hurtful. But there are consequences to the foolish way I lived in the past,’ he continued.
revealed this week that Brand, who shares three children with his wife of seven years, Laura Gallacher, was running his business operation out of a disused pub in the town of Pishall, Oxfordshire.
The report goes on to disclose that Brand, despite his consistent claims that he has been canceled as a result of the sexual assault allegations, makes nearly £5 million per year from his controversial content.
When Brand initially bought his premises, he reportedly told locals of his plans to turn into a cafe and wellness center, but has since turned it into the headquarters of his global operation.
Carlson joined Brand for an interview in 2023 shortly after the host was fired by Fox News
During another portion of the Carlson broadcast, Brand’s attention turned to David Icke.
‘It terrifies me to contemplate, Tucker, that people like Alex Jones and in our country, David Icke … appear to have been ahead of the curve,’ Brand said. Adding that it was ‘extraordinary’ for how long the pair have been speaking about ‘globalization.’
Allegations of holocaust denial have been labelled at Icke since his 1995 book And the Truth Shall Set You Free. In the book, Icke alleged that prominent Jewish families ‘helped finance Adolf Hitler.’
He also wrote that schools ‘indoctrinate children with the unchallenged version of events’ with the mainstream account of the Holocaust thanks to their use of free copies of the film Schindler’s List.’
Brand and Icke’s relationship goes back nearly 20 years. In 2008, Icke appeared twice as a guest on the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star’s infamous BBC Radio 2.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Jones, who is most known for his denials regarding the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting which saw 20 children shot dead, is not overtly anti-Semitic but ‘has featured antisemitic guests on his show.’
One such guest, Kanye West, admitted in a December 2022 interview on the show that ‘liked Hitler.’ Icke himself has been a guest on Jones’ InfoWars show on multiple occasions.
Brand pictured with Holocaust denier David Icke in 2008 at the height of Brand’s ill-fated Hollywood career
Brand’s shift from left-wing darling to a popular with the right has been described as the ‘grift drift’
This week, liberal watchdog Media Matters published a study on Brand’s move from being a left-wing darling to someone ‘uncritically platforms right-wing figures and baseless conspiracy theories.’
Less than ten years ago, Fox News host Greg Gutfeld called Brand ‘left-wing commie scum.’ In the past 18 months, Gutfeld regularly speaks glowingly about Brand saying that the actor chose ‘truth’ over ‘stardom’ in walking away from his movie career.
Media Matters calls Brand’s shift the ‘grift drift.’
Brand said in the appearance that he believes that ‘authoritarianism’ is being weaponized with words such as ‘care, concern, safety, and convenience’ but that the ultimate goal is for individuals to lose their freedoms.
‘It seems to me that we’re in a time where we lurch from one crisis to another. The crisis is always used to legitimize certain solutions and a docile or terrified public is willingly to participate in this proposed solutions that usually involve giving up their freedom,’ he went on.
‘We’re continually being invited to give up our freedom in exchange for safety or convenience and it seems that this process is radically escalating. And I feel that this is something that we will see more of in the coming year.’
Brand has been questioned by detectives from London’s Metropolitan Police over allegations of historical sex offences.
British police said in September they had launched an investigation into a number of allegations of non-recent sexual offences following media reports that women had accused Brand of a string of sexual assaults.
Brand has rejected what he has described as ‘very serious allegations’, saying on his social media channels he has never had non-consensual sex.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment on Sunday’s report from representatives for Brand.
‘A man in his 40s attended a police station in South London on Thursday 16 November 2023,’ the Metropolitan Police said in a statement, declining to confirm whether it was Brand.
‘He was interviewed under caution by detectives in relation to three non-recent sexual offences. Enquiries continue,’ the force added.