‘No evidence C4 staff aware of accusations about Russell Brand’
THE boss of Channel 4 has apologised to a former worker on behalf of the broadcaster for not investigating a “serious” allegation made against Russell Brand.
An official report released by C4 yesterday found “no evidence” that staff knew about the accusations made by four women in its own Dispatches documentary before it was aired in September.
The former comic, 48, was accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse in a joint TV and newspaper investigation and is under police investigation.
Brand has strongly denied all accusations about his behaviour while at the height of his fame between 2006 and 2013 and has called them “very hurtful”. During this time he presented on BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and starred in Hollywood films.
Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon said: “Whilst the investigation did not find any evidence to suggest any Channel 4 employees were aware of Russell Brand’s alleged behaviour contained in the programme, it did find that one former employee made a serious and concerning allegation about Russell Brand in 2009. “This was not escalated to Channel 4’s then senior management team, nor investigated as it should have been. I have apologised on behalf of the organisation to the individual for this breakdown and for the distress this matter has caused.”
Another anonymous report with “limited information” was not “substantiated”, the investigation also said.
Inappropriate
Ms Mahon added that “it is a matter of regret for our industry that repugnant behaviours were tolerated – and indeed appeared on-air – in the past”.
She also said she was committed to staff not having to experience “inappropriate behaviour” again.
The report’s remit included what was known by “senior levels” when Brand was on The Great Celebrity Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer, filmed in 2018 but not broadcast until March 2019. The Dispatches programme Russell Brand: In Plain Sight was commissioned in December 2019.
The report said recollections “varied about when concerns around Russell Brand started to circulate” but there was no written evidence or reports about his casting before or after the Bake Off special aired.
Channel 4 chair Sir Ian Cheshire said the broadcaster’s “strengthened safeguarding processes introduced in the past decade mean that an allegation such as this would today be reportable through multiple routes”.