The BBC has removed a joke about Russell Brand from an episode of Gavin & Stacey on iPlayer, following the comedian's conviction and prison sentencing for rape and sexual assault.
The edited scene comes from the original Gavin & Stacey Christmas special, which aired in 2008. It takes place during Christmas dinner at Pam and Mick's house, where Nessa returns to the table after putting her son 'Neil the Baby' to bed. When Pam asks whether she has been reading him a fairytale, Nessa replies that she has been reading him Russell Brand's autobiography, My Booky Wook, adding: "He's loving every word." Stacey then asks whether she and Nessa are named in the book.
Scene Removed from iPlayer
"That's a shame. I'm quite disappointed, are you?" Stacey tells her. Nessa responds: "Don't be, Stace. We had a cracking night, Pam. All three of us."
The BBC made the change after Brand's conviction, which came over three years after Channel 4's Dispatches publicly accused him of sexually assaulting women between 2006 and 2013.
Sentencing and Further Allegations
While sentencing Brand on Monday, Mr Justice Bennathan criticised the comedian's "staggering arrogance" and said he had "become a sexual predator" during his rise to fame. The judge said Brand harboured a "casual arrogant disregard to any woman's right to say no to you", while his fame meant he believed "you could act when you liked and how you liked".
Brand was handed a ten-year prison sentence on Monday for rape and sexual assault. He showed no emotion as the custodial sentence was given, but told his wife, Laura Gallacher, "we'll be OK" before he was taken downstairs by dock officers at Southwark Crown Court.
Victim Statements and New Claims
Hours after his sentencing, Jemima Goldsmith – who reportedly dated Brand for around a year in 2014 – shared a post on X in which she claimed she had to call the police on the TV personality to get him removed during a "violent incident". She wrote that she has her own experience of his "violence, coercive control and abuse", and has neither seen nor spoken to Brand since that period.
Brand was convicted on Thursday for raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three TV and radio workers during his rise to international fame. He spent four nights in a cell before the sentencing hearing on Monday, during which his barrister Ian Winter KC argued his crimes were the consequence of the level of fame he was acquiring. Mr Winter pointed out that the final offence "happened very shortly after" Brand met his former wife, singer Katy Perry.
One of Brand's victims called him "a sexual predator who has no remorse for how his behaviour has impacted my life". She told court that his fame had left her afraid to speak out for years, adding: "His fame, wealth and influence created a power imbalance which made me feel powerless." Another victim said she feared the sexual assault will "haunt me every day" and the process of reporting the incident "felt like a marathon I had not trained for".
