Russell Brand has posted a video online to deny 'very serious criminal allegations' he claims have been made against him by a TV company and newspaper.
He took to his YouTube channel and X last night to say that he'd 'received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email' ahead of a 'mystery' Channel 4 Dispatches programme set to air this evening (16 September).
Brand stated that while he was 'very promiscuous' at the height of his career, his relationships were 'always consensual'.
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In his response, he states there are some 'very serious allegations that I absolutely refute'.
Although he did not specify the allegations, he claims were made by the TV company or newspaper.
In the video titled: "So, This is Happening", the comedian says: "Now, this isn't the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story, I am the news.
"I've received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email. One from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like my community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel.
"But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.
"These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. As I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.
"Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I'm being transparent about it now as well.
"And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?
"Particularly when we've seen coordinated media attacks before, like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn't approve of, and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language."
"I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while 'watch out, Russell. They're coming for you, you're getting too close to the truth, Russell Brand did not kill himself'.
"I know that a year ago there was a spate of articles - Russell Brand's a conspiracy theorist, Russell Brand's right wing. I'm aware of news media making phone calls, sending letters to people I know for ages and ages.
"It's being clear to me, or at least it feels to me like there's a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices. And I mean, my voice along with your voice.
"I don't mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations.
"Also, it's worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narrative that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack.
"Now, I don't wanna get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I'm being attacked and plainly they're working very closely together. We are obviously going to look into this matter 'cause it's very, very serious.
"In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free." Brand did not state any of the allegations that he claims were being made against him.
Topics: Celebrity, Crime, UK News, Russell Brand
Ben Smith