Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has called for "far more robust processes in place to protect women" in media and entertainment industries, following the conviction of comedian Russell Brand on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Speaking after the high-profile four-week trial, Nandy said she believes entertainment organisations are not doing enough to protect women. Brand is due to be sentenced on Monday, after the judge told him he faces "a significant custodial sentence."
Power imbalances and fear of speaking up
Nandy said: "I do think that there is a particular responsibility on media and entertainment organisations... to recognise that these are industries where people often are on short-term, flexible contracts, where there are huge power imbalances and where speaking up can really cost you your reputation and cost you opportunities."
She added: "We need far more robust processes in place to protect women, like the women who bravely came forward in the Russell Brand case, to make sure that they are protected and treated seriously."
Nandy continued: "Hand on heart, I don't think we can say that this couldn't happen today. In fact, I would wager that this is probably happening today, and I don't think that the industry is doing enough to tackle it. I can't see what has changed in terms of the way that many institutions in media and entertainment enable people to come forward, protect and support them. I can't see what has changed in the intervening years."
Impact across the Atlantic
The cabinet minister urged organisations to sign up to the industry body that protects whistleblowers, and said the government is "considering what further steps we can take."
Brand's conviction is having an impact on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, there are claims his ex-wife Katy Perry is considering writing a book and making a docuseries on their marriage. They were married for 24 months but split in 2011.
One of the women featured in the 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, known as Nadia, who accused Brand of raping her in Los Angeles in 2012, said his defence team was welcome to look at all the evidence she had. Her case did not feature in the trial as the alleged incident took place in the US.
She claims she did not report the incident to police because she was worried her name would be "dragged through the dirt". She said: "It's ridiculous that I have to prove that I am real. It's so hard for any woman to come forward. It wasn't something that I was looking to do until I thought, 'it might help other women and it will make me feel better that I didn't stand up for myself at a time when I should have'."
Further claims and civil suits
It was claimed in US court papers that Brand boasted that having sex with multiple women was part of the "lineage of celebrated male behaviour". He allegedly claimed that being promiscuous was fine because it "defined famous men". He also allegedly claimed he knew about consent because he had been "in a lot of bathrooms with people he doesn't know very well".
The statement was made as part of a US civil lawsuit filed by a woman who claims that he sexually assaulted her on the set of the 2011 comedy film Arthur, when the Essex-born actor was married to pop star Katy Perry. The case is due to go to trial in the US next March but that could now be delayed.
Legal sources said last night that Brand, 51, is facing the prospect of further civil claims, both in the UK, where one has already been lodged, and in the US. It is possible prosecutors in the US could also decide to pursue Brand with criminal action.
Conviction details
Brand faced allegations from six women during the trial, which dated from between 1999 and 2009. Last week at Southwark Crown Court, a jury unanimously found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault between 2004 and 2009 - at the height of his fame. Mr Justice Bennathan warned the serial sex offender that he faced a "significant custodial sentence".
Brand was convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan he met after a comedy gig at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. The comic, then 33, forced the woman face-down into a pillow while raping her at his mansion in Hampstead, North West London, removing a condom without consent and leaving her struggling to breathe. Afterwards he ordered his bleeding victim to "clean up the mess you've made" before switching on the TV.
Each woman told the court how he forced them into sexual activity, sometimes within seconds of meeting them, while exploiting his fame to feed his sexual appetite. After eight-and-a-half hours of deliberations, jurors convicted him of sexually assaulting an MTV worker at a party in a Soho bar in 2004 but cleared him of orally raping her in a toilet afterwards.
They also found Brand, who is now a born-again Christian, guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at the Choice FM radio studio in 2004 or 2005. She told the court he violently grabbed her buttocks and breasts, while kissing her as his entourage looked on and one laughed. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker in 2009 after she was forced to give him a massage by two of his colleagues.
