Comedian Katherine Ryan has revealed she 'wrestled' with the decision to appear on a television show alongside a fellow comic she considered 'dangerous' and a 'perpetrator of sexual assault'. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, the Canadian stand-up said she believed the unnamed man posed a threat, but ultimately chose to take part in the programme.
Ryan explained that she faced a difficult choice: either work with someone she believed to be a sexual predator, or turn down the job. 'What am I going to change if I stay home?' she said. Her compromise was to attend the show and make her views clear to the man, telling him 'under no uncertain terms what I think of him'.
The 40-year-old comedian said she did not want to smile and appear to condone his behaviour. 'I'm not going to let him think that I don't know and that everybody he works with is just going to let him get away with it,' she said. Ryan added that the man did not have an 'obvious reaction' to her words, but others on the show appreciated what she said.
Ryan first spoke about the incident in an interview with Louis Theroux last year, where she described calling a man a 'predator' during filming. While speculation linked the comments to Russell Brand and their appearance together on Comedy Central's Roast Battle in 2018, Ryan has not confirmed this. Brand has denied allegations of sexual misconduct, stating his relationships were always consensual.
During the Desert Island Discs episode, recorded on 6 September before recent allegations against Brand emerged, Ryan discussed her upbringing in Canada, her family, and performing comedy while experiencing a miscarriage. Her musical choices included Spice Up Your Life by the Spice Girls and The Real Slim Shady by Eminem.
