LONDON — British police have opened a sex crimes investigation triggered by news reports about comedian Russell Brand.
London’s Metropolitan Police force said Monday that it had “received a number of allegations of sexual offences” after a television documentary and newspaper investigations. It said there have been no arrests.
Brand, 48, denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and The Times and Sunday Times newspapers. The accusers, who have not been named, include one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16. Another woman says Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.
Comedian Russell Brand performs Nov. 3, 2012, during a celebration of Eddie Murphy’s career at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. Police have opened a sex crimes investigation triggered by news reports about Brand, London’s Metropolitan Police force said Monday.
The police force did not name Brand in its statement, but referred to the recent articles and documentary. It said detectives were investigating allegations of “non-recent” sexual offenses, both in London and elsewhere.
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“We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us,” said Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, who is leading the investigation.
Known for his unbridled and risqué standup routines, Brand was a major U.K. star in the early 2000s. He hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in several Hollywood movies and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.
Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built up a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories.
Last week YouTube said it would stop Brand from making money from the streaming site, where he has 6.6 million subscribers, due to the “serious allegations” against him.
Promoters also canceled several scheduled live shows by Brand, and he has been dropped by his talent agency and a publisher since the allegations became public.
Brand still has a presence on Rumble, a video site popular with some conservatives and far-right groups, where his channel has 1.6 million followers. The site has been criticized for allowing— and at times promoting — disinformation and conspiracy theories.
Brand hosted a new broadcast on Rumble on Monday, saying the platform had made a “clear commitment to free speech.”
Photos: Russell Brand through the years
Comedian and actor Russell Brand with his mother attend the British film premiere of ‘ St Trinian’s ‘ in London, Monday, Dec 10, 2007. (AP Photo / Alastair Grant)
From left, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Bill Hader and Jason Segel make an appearance at MTV Studio’s in Times Square for MTV’s “Total Request Live,” show to promote their new movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” on Tuesday, April 15, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)
Actor Russell Brand makes an appearance at MTV Studio’s in Times Square for MTV’s “Total Request Live” show on Tuesday, April 15, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)
Host of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, actor Russell Brand, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Actor and host Russell Brand, left, talks with singer Christina Aguilera at the MTV Video Music Awards sneak preview press conference at Paramount Pictures studio in Los Angeles on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
Actor Russell Brand arrives at The White Party benefiting Malaria No More in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
Host Russell Brand performs during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Singe Katy Perry, left, and actor Russell Brand arrive at the EMI Grammy party in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
Russell Brand, left, a cast member in “Get Him to the Greek,” poses alongside his fiancee, singer Katy Perry, at the premiere of the film at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, Tuesday, May 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
British actor Russell Brand makes a grimace during a photo-call to promote his movie ‘Get Him To The Greek’ ( German title ‘Maennertrip’) in Berlin, on Friday, June 25, 2010. The movie will start in Germany on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Jonah Hill, left, Russell Brand, center, and Sean Diddy Combs present the award for best breakout star at the MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, Calif., on Sunday, June 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Russell Brand appears at a book signing for his memoir “My Booky Wook 2” at Barnes & Noble in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)
British actor-comedian Russell Brand, center, smiles at a group of tourists passing by at the Ranthambore National Park in Ranthambore, India, Friday, Oct. 22, 2010. Russell Brand’s friend and a bodyguard assaulted four news photographers, including one from The Associated Press, when they were taking pictures of the British comedian Friday in an Indian tiger reserve before his wedding to Katy Perry, the photographers said. The photographers had been following about 330 feet (100 meters) behind two jeeps, one carrying Brand, a woman who was not Perry, a man and two children, and the second carrying the bodyguard and another man later described by police as Brand’s friend and wedding guest. (AP Photo)
In this March 19, 2011 photo, Russell Brand is shown during a press preview for the film, “HOP” in Universal City, Calif. A couple years ago, British comedian Russell Brand was an American unknown who hoped to gain fans stateside by hosting the MTV Video Music Awards. Now, he’s become the kind of big-name leading man who opens big studio movies on back-to-back weekends. (AP Photo/MJ Kim)
Actors Russell Brand, left, and Rico Rodriguez present the award for “Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie” at Nickelodeon’s 24th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards on Saturday, April 2, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Katy Perry, left, and Russell Brand arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday Aug. 28, 2011, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Russell Brand is seen onstage at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, June 3, 2012 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
FILE – In this Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012 file photo, British actor Russell Brand performs during the Closing Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. Brand doesn’t vote, but he has stepped into Britain’s election campaign by interviewing Labour Party leader Ed Miliband. The comedian turned anti-capitalist campaigner released the interview Wednesday, April 29, 2015 on his YouTube channel, which has more than 1 million subscribers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Comedian Russell Brand speaks in Parliament Square during a protest against the Conservative Government and it’s austerity policies in London, Saturday, June 20, 2015. The protest is intended to be peaceful, but demonstrators are angry at public sector cuts meant to address government deficits, which ballooned after Britain rescued troubled banks during the 2008 financial crisis. Demonstrators argue the public is being punished for a crisis it did not cause. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)
