Brand quizzed by cops over sex claims

It is the first time the comedian is known to have been interviewed by police over sex assault allegations.

And it’s emerged his alleged victim told police she was “touched in a sexual way” at a £5 million ($9 million) mansion during the 2014 “attack” which she said left her traumatised, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.

The comedian, 48, was interviewed by police officers in June 2014 after the woman made a formal complaint to them.

She accused the TV presenter of sexually assaulting her after she was hired to give him a £500 ($1000) birthday massage.

The alleged attack on the qualified masseuse took place just two years after he is said to have raped a woman in Los Angeles — reported last week by the Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

The masseuse, who we are not naming for legal reasons, contacted Thames Valley Police about her alleged 40-minute ordeal. Officers spoke to her and got a full account of her claims.

Brand was then quizzed and denied any wrongdoing. The case against him was later dropped.

The masseuse was informed the investigation was closed.

Brand has since been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women between 2006 and 2013.

And over the last week other women have come forward to allege he assaulted them or behaved inappropriately.

Brand denies any wrongdoing and says his relationships were all consensual.

In her account to police, the masseuse said she was hired to give Brand a massage at a mansion in Oxfordshire and was shown in on June 7, 2014.

She said she was escorted to an en suite bathroom where a massage table was set up.

The events that followed are disputed by both parties. She claimed she was touched in a sexual way by Brand before being forced out of the house when she protested.

The woman told cops she was scared, shocked and traumatised by the alleged ordeal which she said lasted 40 minutes.

She was later paid the $1000 agreed fee — despite having not given the massage.

In his police interview, Brand told them he was uneasy when the woman arrived and decided to back out of the massage.

She was then escorted out of the property and left, he claimed. He described it as friendly but awkward.

Officers examined CCTV footage from the property following the incident. Brand told police it supported his version of events and showed his alleged victim was not forced out of the door.

At the time, when the claims first surfaced he described them as “appalling” and said he “wholly denied” them.

On July 25, 2014, Thames Valley Police told Brand they were not pursuing the matter.

The masseuse was said to be angry and upset and sought to have it reviewed by the independent Police Complaints Commission, now the independent Office for Police Misconduct.

It comes just days after the Met Police said it was in contact with a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand in Soho, Central London, in 2003.

They are also working with officers from Operation Hydrant, set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal to respond to “non-recent” sex offences. The unit has identified more than 9000 suspected sex offenders.

Its latest statistics classified 250 suspects, including 58 people from the world of television, film or radio, as public figures. More than 1100 people are the subject of live investigations.

The BBC, Channel 4, and an independent TV production company, have also launched reviews.

Brand denies rape and sexual assault claims contained in a joint probe by The Sunday Times, The Times and Dispatches.

One woman, known only as Nadia, claims the star raped her in LA in July 2012. Medical notes suggest she was treated at a rape crisis centre.

Text messages also show that after leaving Brand’s home, she wrote, “When a girl say[s] NO it means no.”

Brand replied he was “very sorry”.

Another woman says she was sexually assaulted by him at 16. She claims he once used his BBC account car to have her collected from school to visit him at home.

Since the investigation was published, more women have come forward with allegations.

The BBC has pulled catch-up TV and radio shows featuring him and will conduct its probe with “full transparency”.

Brand’s live tour has been postponed and YouTube has suspended his ability to make money on the site.

On Friday, Brand posted a video online thanking supporters for helping him in an “extraordinary and distressing week”.

Meanwhile, a Sun on Sunday investigation found TV bosses stopped working with him five years ago.

His last potential show, Russell Brand TV, was binned after he was accused of being a predator in 2018.

There had been a “huge buzz” around the BBC2 project. But we can reveal it was quietly shelved when word got round that comedian Katherine Ryan had allegedly voiced concerns about his past on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle in 2017.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Russell Brand quizzed by police nine years ago over sex assault allegations