Russell Brand to play gig just hours before 'very serious' claims he denies will be broadcast on TV

16 September 2023, 12:09 | Updated: 16 September 2023, 14:37

Russell Brand is set to play a comedy gig that will end minutes before "very serious" claims are aired against him on TV.

The allegations, which have not yet been published, are a "litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks", the comedian has said as he denied them.

News emerged that the Dispatches programme was due to broadcast claims against a famous person in a show that was "years in the making".

It will air at 9pm on Channel 4 - just after Brand finishes a gig at Wembley Park Theatre in London.

The show begins as 7pm and will last just under two hours.

In a video posted to Twitter, Brand said his relationships have always been "consensual".

During the two minute and 45 second clip, called "This is happening", the 48-year-old says: "Now, this isn't the usual type of video we make on this channel where we critique, attack and undermine the news in all its corruption because in this story, I am the news.

"I've received two extremely disturbing letters or a letter and an email. One from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like my community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn't be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel.

"But amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.

"These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.

"Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I'm being transparent about it now as well.

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"And to see that transparency metastasised into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question, is there another agenda at play?"

He went on: "I know that a year ago there was a spate of articles - Russell Brand's a conspiracy theorist, Russell Brand's right wing. I'm aware of news media making phone calls, sending letters to people I know for ages and ages.

"It's been clear to me, or at least it feels to me like there's a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces and these kind of voices. And I mean, my voice along with your voice.

"I don't mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations.

"Also, it's worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack.

"Now, I don't want to get into this any further because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I'm being attacked and plainly they're working very closely together.

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"We are obviously going to look into this matter 'cause it's very, very serious. In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free."

Elon Musk backed him on Twitter - now X - as he said of the media: "Of course. They don't like competition."

He was also supported by Andrew Tate before the full allegations were aired. The influencer, who is facing human trafficking charges in Romania, said: "Matrix attack."

The description of Brand's Saturday evening show, Bipolarisation, states: "Rules and rule breaking! Democracy and freedom! We reach conclusions from mass confusion by polling the live audience. We want to hear YOUR opinion.

"After amassing a movement of 25 million people across his digital channels, the Community festival and the live show Stay Free; the cultural and political commentator and award-winning British comedian is back on stage."

News emerged on Friday that Channel 4 will broadcast a Dispatches programme that would examine the behaviour of a celebrity.

Channel 4 news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy deleted a tweet that said "something's up" with a screenshot of Dispatches in the broadcaster's schedule.

Sources said he was told to remove it because the nature of the programme is "sensitive", MailOnline reported.

A source told The Mirror: "This programme has been years in the making and is being edited up to the last minute."