London’s Metropolitan Police said Monday they were investigating an allegation of sexual assault in 2003, after a joint investigation into the comedian and actor Russell Brand by three British media outlets was published Saturday.
The Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches reported that four women had accused Brand of rape and sexual assault, all of which he denies. The incidents allegedly took place between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was working for the BBC, on Channel 4, and in different films as an actor.
The police said they received a report on Sunday of an alleged sexual assault that occurred in north London in 2003. “Officers are in contact with the complainant. No arrests have been made. Enquiries are ongoing,” the police said in a statement.
Brand, who is known for his roles in movies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, posted a video on social media on Saturday, in which he said he had been “very very promiscuous” but all of his relationships had been “absolutely, always consensual”.
He also suggested that the allegations were part of a “coordinated attack” against him, and that he had been “the subject of rumours and gossip and speculation” for years.
The media outlets that published the investigation said they had spoken to more than 40 people who had worked with or dated Brand, and that they had corroborated evidence from the four women who made the allegations.
One of the women, who was identified by the pseudonym Nadia, claimed that Brand raped her at his home in 2006, after she rejected his suggestions of a threesome. She said she was treated by a rape crisis center following the alleged attack but did not report it to the police at the time due to fears of reprisals.
Another woman, who was identified by the pseudonym Jordan Martin, alleged that Brand sexually assaulted her and was physically and emotionally abusive towards her during a six-month relationship in 2007. She said he assaulted her at a hotel in Manchester when he became angry after finding out she had spoken to an ex-boyfriend.
The other two women, who were identified by the pseudonyms Alice and Sophie, claimed that Brand sexually assaulted them in 2010 and 2013 respectively, while he was working on different film projects. They said he touched them inappropriately without their consent.