A woman who alleges Russell Brand sexually assaulted her when she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl said their relationship left her feeling “used up”, “cheap” and “dirtied”.
Brand is facing allegations of sexual assault, dating back to the height of his fame between 2006 and 2013, from four women.
The 48-year-old comedian vehemently denies the allegations and said, in a video posted online on Friday night, that while he was “promiscuous”, all of his relationships have been “consensual”.
One of the alleged victims, who is being referred to as Alice, claims she was in a relationship with Brand when she was 16 and at school and he was 30 and 31 and appearing on BBC radio.
She says he groomed her, referred to her as “The Child” and assaulted her during their three-month relationship.
‘It’s insulting’ | Russell Brand allegations broadcast exclusive
Speaking for the first time since accusations became public, ‘Alice’, who has accused Russell Brand of sexual assault when she was 16, spoke to @emmabarnett about her reaction to his denials 🎧⬇️
— BBC Woman’s Hour (@BBCWomansHour) September 18, 2023
Discussing the impact the alleged experience had on her, Alice told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “It’s certainly had an impact on my relationships going forward… it was my first sexual experience, I felt used up, I felt cheap, I felt dirtied by the whole thing and so then I went on to have another series of relationships with people that were, for want of a better word, sleazy.
“Because I just thought if I go for bottom of the barrel I can never be disappointed and I can never be hurt because I know to expect the absolute worst.”
She added: “I missed a lot of school, I was not in a good place mentally, I was just recovering from an eating disorder and I didn’t complete my education, I didn’t finish my A-levels.”
Asked how she feels about Brand denying the allegations, Alice told Woman’s Hour: “First of all, I think it’s insulting, and it’s laughable that he would even imply that this is some sort of mainstream media conspiracy.
“He’s not outside the mainstream – he did a Universal Pictures movie last year, he did Minions, a children’s movie. He’s very much part of the mainstream media, he just happens to have a YouTube channel where he talks about conspiracy theories to an audience that laps it up.
“It may sound cynical but I do think he was building himself an audience for years of people that would then have great distrust of any publication that came forward with allegations. He knew it was coming for a long time.
“Then, as for him denying that anything non-consensual happened, that’s not a surprise to me. These men always deny any of these allegations brought to them. I knew he would. He did say it was consensual but he didn’t deny that he had a relationship with a 16-year-old.”
In a YouTube video published before allegations were published by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, Brand said he believes he is the target of a “co-ordinated attack” by the media.
Alice, whose words were voiced by an actor, told Woman’s Hour: “I expected it, I expected him to do something outside of the usual press release or statement via publicist or drafted by a lawyer, I expected it to be slightly off-ish.
“But I’ve been preparing myself for a long time that he’s not going to say, ‘I’m sorry, I did it’ and put his hands up to it.”
Brand has vehemently denied the allegations (PA)
Alice claims Brand used BBC cars to transport her, including from her school to his house.
She said: “He had a friend who was taking him to do his radio show so he said to me, ‘You get in the car and you go wherever you need to go from there’, so I took the BBC car that time.
“And on another occasion it picked me up from school… back to his house.”
The broadcaster said it is “urgently looking into the issues raised” while Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008.
Alice said she told Brand she was 16 before their first date, adding: “He just replied saying, ‘OK, so we’re still on for dinner at 7.30?’
“He was 30. Now that I’m in my 30s looking at 16-year-olds, I can’t imagine finding them sexually attractive. I can’t imagine thinking of them as a potential mate in any way.”
She said her mother tried to do everything she could to end the relationship but added: “Russell groomed me and told me to save his number in my phone as a different name. He coached me on what to say to my parents.”
Another of the women, who is being referred to as Nadia, claims Brand raped her against a wall at his home in Los Angeles in 2012.
Brand has said he “absolutely refutes” the allegations.
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