A BBC investigation of allegations against the brand of actor Russell when he was one of his radio presenters blamed inadequate management of having poorly managed what the broadcaster described as “unacceptable behavior”. The BBC also said that staff members had not raised concerns about the brand because they thought they would get its way and that they would be punished.
The BBC published a report on the internal investigation on Thursday, which began in 2023 after four women accused the brand of sexual assault in other contexts. The BBC said that it had examined eight complaints against Brand, two of which were raised while it was used there between 2006 and 2008.
“There should have been better systems in place to ensure that Russell Brand’s unacceptable behavior was quickly taken up and addressed and that all those involved felt able to raise concerns,” said the report.
Brand did not participate in the BBC survey and did not respond to his proposed results, said the broadcaster. He is currently under investigation by the London metropolitan police and has denied all allegations of sexual assault.
The report, written by Peter Johnston, director of BBC’s editorial complaints and criticisms, indicates that 39 people were interviewed and provided details on several meetings involving the brand.
He says that the brand “slipped his fingers” from a colleague “pants and underwear” of a colleague; that he followed a woman who was not an employee of the BBC in a bathroom and showed her his penis; And that he had sex with someone who visited the BBC after winning a radio competition. The person said that sex was consensual, but that the brand “had abused their position and took advantage of it”.
In one of the complaints recorded during his mandate, a staff member said that the brand had urinated in a bottle and threw the objects with anger on a screen while recording an episode. Although the incident was officially reported to the employee’s director, the investigation revealed that “nothing came to it”. The nature of the second complaint was not provided.
Many colleagues from Brand were upset by his behavior, said the report, but “said it was useless to complain because they thought they would not be listened to”. Because Brand was considered a “high-level presenter”, they said, they thought he “had the support of the station management”.
Lisa Nandy, the British Minister of Culture, described the allegations against the “horrible” brand in a statement.
“For too long, there has been a culture of silence in the media industry where inappropriate behavior like that of Brand has been tolerated or minimized,” she said. “The BBC and the wider industry must now urgently consider what they can do more to ensure that abuse and harassment by anyone, no matter who they are, are not tolerated in any of their places work. “
