Last weekend, The Sunday Times, The Times, and the U.K. current-affairs program Dispatches accused Russell Brand of rape. Their joint investigation, four years in the making, came off as thorough and credible and apparently watertight enough to withstand the country’s sturdy libel laws.
Brand’s reputation for sexual impropriety has been whispered about within the British television and comedy industries for years, but the investigation marks the first time any accusations have gone public. They make for grisly reading. A woman claims she was raped against a wall in Brand’s Los Angeles home after she rejected his offer of a threesome. Another claims that Brand pinned her to his bed, forcing his hands into her underwear while she screamed for help. A third—16 years old at the start of their relationship—also claims that she was sexually assaulted by Brand. Likewise, her retelling contains a vivid detail hinting at what an open secret this was; when the taxi that picked her up from school stopped outside Brand’s house, the driver tearfully pleaded with her not to go in.
