Russell Brand’s Controversies & Sexual Assault Allegations Explained

One of the earliest known controversies Russell Brand got himself involved in was during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2021. At that time, he got kicked out after provoking a concertgoer.

The Ballers actor called it a turning point of his career amid his struggles with addiction.

“It probably expedited my journey to not taking drugs anymore, to write material, to start taking comedy more seriously,” he said.

Things worsened the next month when MTV fired him after hiring him as a video journalist in 2000.

The now-48-year-old English comedian went to MTV studios a day after the tragic September 11 attacks in New York City while dressed as Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

Years after the incident, he told Chelsea Handler during his appearance on her show Chelsea Lately that he consumed cocaine and heroin at that time and was high when he came to work.

“I challenge any of you to take crack and heroin and see how it affects your personal, private and professional life,” he continued.

The string of allegations began when a woman stepped up to reveal that Brand sexually assaulted her when she was 16 during their three-month relationship. The BAFTA-nominated comedian was 30 at the time of the alleged incident and was working as a BBC radio presenter, in addition to hosting Big Brother’s Big Mouth.

The alleged victim told the Sunday Times they met after Brand approached her in Leicester Square. When he saw her shopping bags, he reportedly took out a dress and told her she should wear it on their date that week.

The woman told her mother about the encounter and advised her to tell Brand her age. He remained unfazed and proceeded with their date, where he asked her to confirm she was 16 – to which the woman and a family member called a sign that Brand was grooming her.

Weeks later, Brand reportedly began to call her “the child” and claimed he sexually and emotionally abused her. She revisited the time he asked her to save his number and put “Carly” instead of lying to her parents – one of the things he made her do to deceive her elders.

Another victim, named Jordan Martin, exposed Brand’s alleged crimes, including sexual assault and physical and emotional abuse.

Martin and the Despicable Me voice actor shared a six-month relationship starting in February 2007.

According to Martin, Brand assaulted her at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester when he found out she spoke to her ex-boyfriend and showed his erratic behavior by damaging her phone before sexually touching her.

She detailed her claims in her 2014 book and eventually agreed to tell her story to the Sunday Times after declining an interview with investigative reporters.

Brand stirred criticism when he hosted the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards during which he called then-President George W. Bush a “retarded cowboy.”

“Some people, I think they’re called racists, say America is not ready for a Black President,” he said. “But I know America to be a forward-thinking country because otherwise, why would you have let that retarded cowboy fella be president for eight years?”

During the same hosting stint, he called out the Jonas Brothers for their purity rings.

A month before his wedding to Katy Perry, Brand got involved in an altercation with paparazzi at the Los Angeles International Airport before their flight to Las Vegas. Authorities put him under citizen’s arrest, and he was charged with simple battery.

The “California Gurls” singer addressed his arrest on Twitter and defended her then-fiancé, writing: “If you cross the line & try an put a lens up my dress, my fiancé will do his job & protect me.”