Katherine Ryan has said she feels a mixture of ‘grief and relief’ after Russell Brand was convicted of rape and faces up to ten years in jail.
The Canadian-born comedian, 43, claimed there are ‘a lot of women speaking privately and quietly’ about his behaviour following the verdict, with many experiencing ‘a very nuanced mix of emotions’.
She added cuttingly of Brand’s new career as a Christian podcaster: ‘I don’t know if you can podcast from jail. I hope not.’
Ryan was one of the first celebrities to publicly raise concerns about Brand’s sexual behaviour and the first star to confront him to his face, almost a decade ago.
The comedians were both judges on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle in 2018, when Ryan repeatedly called him a ‘sexual predator’ on camera. But the remarks were cut by producers and never broadcast, and Brand left the show after six episodes.
In 2022, she spoke out again and claimed in an interview with Louis Theroux that she knew of a ‘predator’ working in the entertainment industry and that it was an ‘open secret’ who it was.
She said she could not name the male comic because it would be a ‘litigious minefield’, but indicated she had called the individual a ‘predator’ to ‘his face’, prompting widespread speculation she was referring to Brand.
A year later, in 2023, she spoke at a Royal Television Society (RTS) event as several women accused Brand of rape, sexual abuse and degrading behaviour. Referring to the controversy, Ryan made a pointed comment that there was an ‘elephant in the room’, before insisting she was joking about her own weight.
Weeks later she said there was a ‘dangerous comic’ working in British showbusiness during an appearance on Desert Island Discs where she said she had ‘let him know under no uncertain terms what I think of him.’
Reflecting on Brand’s guilty verdicts on her podcast Telling Everybody Everything, Ryan said: ‘It really made me feel quite dysregulated again, caught off guard, emotional and in awe of the survivors, who also had nothing to gain.
‘They came forward despite Russell Brand having fame, power, money and a legion of fans ready to attack them.’
Comedian Katherine Ryan has said she feels ‘grief and relief’ after Russell Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault. Pictured: The pair appearing together on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle in 2018, where scenes where she confronted him were cut
She added: ‘I will never be someone who, like, dances on graves. There has been some justice done today. There’s a level of relief, but there’s grief alongside relief.
‘Everything’s nuanced, and it was proved in court that a terrible thing happened, and that means that a terrible thing happened.
‘I just think again and again about people who have been hurt, and who have to carry that, who’ve carried that around long enough, and will continue to carry that in some way, regardless of what justice is done.
‘This verdict came because women were hurt, and I worry as well about what happens next.
‘Because he’s obviously spent a long time cultivating this idea that the establishment have invented these claims against him, and he’s martyred himself to a growing audience who really still think that it is the courageous survivors who are the villains in this story.
‘I just… I don’t know if you can podcast from jail. I hope not.’
She continued: ‘Today there are a lot of women speaking, like the way we always do, privately and quietly, the way we’ve learned to do, to avoid being attacked and to keep each other safe, and a lot of those women feel a very nuanced mix of emotions today.’
Ryan also blasted the actions of Brand’s barrister, who launched into a tirade at a journalist outside the courtroom.
Ian Winter KC confronted Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin, whose investigation led to Brand’s victims coming forward, telling her: ‘I hope you are pleased with yourself.’
Ms Urwin responded: ‘I’m pleased justice has been done,’ before Mr Winter said: ‘Well, it wasn’t. You f***** it.’
‘Congratulations,’ he added.
Ryan said: ‘That was so unprofessional, so inappropriate, so aggressive. Really sickening.’
During the trial, Mr Winter had argued that reporting of allegations against Brand by Ms Urwin and others had ‘poisoned the well’, and rendered it impossible for him to have a fair trial.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, dismissed an attempt by Brand to block his trial from taking place because of negative media coverage.
The comedian later made an on-stage appearance at the RTS Cambridge where she spoke of an elephant in the room hours after women publicly accused Brand of abuse
The Daily Mail previously reported how Ryan repeatedly fired allegations on-camera during the filming of Roast Battle that Brand sexually assaulted women.
Her comments did not make the aired show, according to Deadline.
Brand was allegedly ‘absolutely furious’ after being targeted by Ryan on the show, a source told the paper.
Ryan’s confrontations allegedly revealed how comedians in the industry were openly talking about Brand’s sexual and predatory behaviour.
Two other sources claimed he demanded producers protect him from other panellists making such comments. Brand subsequently featured on Roast Battle for one series.
Ryan also previously claimed to have told a comedian that he was a sexual predator and that accusations against him were an ‘open secret’.
The comedian and writer told Louis Theroux that she had confronted the unnamed man while they worked together on a TV show in front of the audience ‘again and again’.
In her chat with Theroux, Ms Ryan claimed she had received criticism afterwards for not naming the person in question in public, but said just talking about him was a ‘litigious minefield’ as he had ‘very good lawyers’.
The comedian added that it was ‘not my story to tell’ but that she believed the accusations as the sources were ‘very credible’.
She again made similar comments during an appearance on Desert Island Discs in 2023.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 show, the comedian said she had ‘wrestled’ with the decision about whether to work with ‘someone who I believe to be a perpetrator of sexual assault’ or turn down jobs.
The Canadian-born comic told host Lauren Laverne in a show recorded before the Brand allegations broke that although she believed the person ‘is or was dangerous’, she was willing to appear on a show with him.
The 43-year-old revealed that her ‘compromise’ was to go on the programme with the unnamed comic but ‘let him know in no uncertain terms what I think of him.’
She added that she didn’t notice ‘much of a reaction’ from the comedian in question, but that other comics who were aware of the person’s reputation ‘really liked what I said’.
Brand is facing years behind bars after being found guilty of one rape and three sexual assaults.
