Russell Brand’s behaviour was tolerated by television bosses as “Russell being Russell” despite informal complaints being raised, according to an investigation.
The disgraced comedian and actor is accused of walking around naked in front of colleagues, making crew members wait outside his dressing room while he masturbated, and asking runners to get the phone numbers of women in the audience.
Russell Brand speaking to the media at the ARIA Awards in Sydney in 2012.Credit: Getty Images
The allegations come as part of an investigation into Brand’s behaviour that has been commissioned by the television company which produced several of the shows that made him a household name.
There were no formal complaints about his behaviour, but findings released by Lewis Silkin LLP, the law firm appointed to the case, said that informal complaints were made and were “not properly escalated or adequately addressed”.
Separately, Brand, 49, has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse as part of a joint investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme, The Times and Sunday Times last year.
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He has strongly denied all accusations about his behaviour, which allegedly took place at the height of his fame between 2006 and 2013.
Following the allegations, a probe was launched by Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce Big Brother spin-off shows EFourum, Big Brother’s Big Mouth, Kings Of Comedy and Big Brother’s Celebrity Hijack, which Brand worked on between 2004 and 2006 and in 2008.
Findings released by Karen Baxter, the head of investigations at Lewis Silkin LLP, said: “No formal complaints were made about Brand during the programmes.