The UK-based Channel 4 network has issued a public apology to a former employee following an investigation that uncovered a failure to address a “serious” complaint made in 2009 against comedian and actor Russell Brand.
In a press release, Channel 4 stated that the investigation did not uncover any evidence to suggest that the network was aware of the allegations against Russell Brand’s behavior during his tenure as a presenter on Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Kings of Comedy from 2004 to 2007, as depicted in the Dispatches program.
These findings come in the wake of the Dispatches program, which mentioned allegations of rape and sexual assault against the comedian. Brand rose to prominence through his work as a stand-up comic on Channel 4, notably with projects such as Big Brother’s Big Mouth, Russell Brand’s Got Issues, and The Russell Brand Show.
In a summary report released by Channel 4, it was disclosed that there was no evidence to support the claim made in the program that discussions about Russell Brand’s behavior had taken place during a commissioning meeting in 2014.
Six months ago, the Channel 4 documentary Dispatches highlighted accusations from four women against Brand, alleging emotional abuse, sexual assault, and rape spanning from 2006 to 2013. The documentary suggested a pattern of abusive and predatory behavior by the star, who has vehemently denied all allegations.
Channel 4 also emphasized that there was no prior evidence of these allegations against Brand. The network’s press release stated that while recollections of former and current Channel 4 staff interviewed varied regarding when concerns about Russell Brand began circulating within the commissioning team, there was no written or corroborated evidence to indicate that suspicions of serious allegations against Brand’s behavior were held within the channel before the documentary aired.