Russell Brand news LIVE: BBC drops comic from iPlayer and YouTube suspends star from making money as up to nine woman come forward with sex abuse allegations against him

Russell Brand is facing a litany of allegations including rape and sexual assault against up to nine different women who have accused him of abusive and predatory behaviour.

Brand has fiercely denied all the allegations against him, releasing a lengthy video on Friday to his 11 million Twitter followers in which he claims he has been ‘promiscuous’ but that all of his relationships have been ‘consensual’.

The revelations came in the release of a major investigation by The Times and Channel 4‘s Dispatches.

The BBC, Channel 4 and Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, have all launched investigations into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes.

Meanwhile, the Times says it has received fresh claims from multiple women, and the Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into a report of an alleged sexual assault in Soho, London, in 2003.

The BBC has pulled comic Russell Brand’s programmes from iPlayer.

The move will put pressure on Netflix to pull his 2018 stand-up special Re:Birth, which is still available on its platform, according to new reports.

The BBC is facing growing pressure to speak out about complaints made when Brand was one of its star presenters.

On Saturday, The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4‘s Dispatches reported allegations that Brand had raped a woman in his LA home, attacked two others and groomed a 16-year-old girl between 2006 and 2013 at the height of his fame.

Russell Brand‘s former lover Georgina Baillie today declared that she does not believe he is rapist – but insisted his accusers must not all be written off as liars.

The granddaughter of Andrew Sachs, 38, who found herself at the centre of a media storm when Brand prank called the former Fawlty Towers star to brag about having sex with her, says she is taking some of the allegations he now faces ‘with a pinch of salt’.

Ms Baillie spoke out shortly after it was revealed the comedian turned wellness guru faces a police probe over claims he sexually assaulted a woman in London. He is also accused of raping a woman in LA, attacking two others and grooming a 16-year-old girl at the height of his fame.

She said last night: ‘From my own personal experience I do not see Russell as a rapist, however, the evidence is compelling so one has to keep an open mind. I’m not saying they are lies, it was a long time ago and they [the women] should be believed and get some help’.

Russell Brand‘s former lover Georgina Baillie declared that she does not believe he is rapist – but insisted his accusers must not all be written off as liars.

The granddaughter of Andrew Sachs, 38, who found herself at the centre of a media storm when Brand prank called the former Fawlty Towers star to

brag about having sex with her, says she is taking some of the allegations he now faces ‘with a pinch of salt’.

Ms Baillie spoke out shortly after it was revealed the comedian turned wellness guru faces a police probe over claims he sexually assaulted a woman in London. He is also accused of raping a woman in LA, attacking two others and grooming a 16-year-old girl at the height of his fame.

She said last night: ‘From my own personal experience I do not see Russell as a rapist, however, the evidence is compelling so one has to keep an open mind. I’m not saying they are lies, it was a long time ago and they [the women] should be believed and get some help’.

Russell Brand joked with Kelly Brook about sending him pictures of herself as a child when he interviewed her on MTV.

The comedian, 48, was speaking to the 43-year-old model, then 27, about her movie Survival Island in 2006, during which time he joked about her ‘sexual charisma’ and that she should be dating him rather than her then-boyfriend Billy Zane.

The video have resurfaced following allegations of abusive and predatory behaviour including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse said to have been committed by the presenter between 2006 and 2013. Allegations which he denies.

In the resurfaced clip, Brand began the interview by asking to shake Brook’s hand as she goes in for a kiss on the cheek, noting: ‘That’s what we do in Europe isn’t it?’

Brand quips in response: ‘I don’t, I feel too self conscious and insecure about it. It crossed my mind, obviously she’s dead good looking and that, I’m going to deliberately shake her hand at arm’s length, so she doesn’t at any point think “I could destroy him with my sexual charisma”, what I’m going to do is act like I’m not bothered, I might even act a bit gay!’

Dame Vera Baird ha said it is wrong to blame or doubt women for taking a long time before coming forward with rape allegations.

Dame Baird, the barrister and former Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, shows that it is this type of criticism that shows how little we understand rape, according to the BBC.

‘The impact of being raped is very undermining,’ she told BBC’s Radio 5 Live.

Victims who are humiliated need time to process the ‘trauma, uncertainty and fear’ that comes along with it, she added.

Even before recent allegations rose up against Russell Brand, his relationship with his in-laws was rocky.

Golf legend Bernard Gallacher, 87, ‘begged’ his daughter Laura to leave him when they first started dating – when she was a teenager and 13 years his junior.

And while her older sister Kirsty, 47, very publicly backed her brother-in-law when she re-posted the video along with a giant red love heart emoji – she removed it shortly after the full extent of the allegations were revealed.

Brand’s wife Laura is yet to break her silence on the allegations and has deleted her Instagram, although friends claim she will stand by him.

Ms Gallacher, 36, a ‘mummy blogger’ and author of parenting book, The Joy Journal For Magical Everyday Play, is said to be ‘kind natured’ and despite coming from a high profile family, happy to stay out of the limelight.

The pair embarked on the relationship four times before finally making it stick in 2015 but now – expecting their third child and six years into their marriage – friends claim she has finally tamed the hellraising womaniser.

One friend said: ‘What Russell did was firmly in the past, way before he and Laura met.

‘Of course it isn’t easy but they are determined to get through this.’

Labour is under pressure for seeking the endorsement of Russell Brand ahead of the 2015 election.

Mr Miliband, now in Sir Keir Starmer‘s shadow cabinet, finally broke his silence over the allegations made against Brand, 48, yesterday.

But he failed to address why he decided to cosy up with the celebrity and self-confessed sex addict. Meanwhile, the Labour Party has remained silent over the episode.

A spokesman for Mr Miliband said: ‘The allegations of rape and sexual assault made against Russell Brand are appalling. They must be fully investigated.

‘Ed stands with all victims of sexual violence, and in solidarity with the women who have come forward.’

Russell Brand has continued to carve out a profitable media career for himself despite no longer being a prominent figure in mainstream film, television or radio.

The star has turned to online platforms and embracing an anti-establishment narrative in order to gain new followers.

Brand’s following sits at 6.6 million subscribers on YouTube, 11.2 million followers on Twitter, 1.4 million followers on right-wing video platform Rumble and 3.8 million followers on Instagram.

YouTube is central to Brand’s earning ability, allowing him to earn money from the advertising revenue YouTube makes each time someone watches one of his videos and sees the adverts that appear within and alongside them.

One social media expert told The Guardian they estimate Brand is ‘likely making £2,000 to £4,000 per video’, not including any affiliate deals or brand sponsorships that may also be running in the background.

Sponsorship is also an area Brand is prominent in, with many of his videos featuring a product mention and link to it at the top of the video’s written description, from which earnings for prominent YouTubers can be significant.

Brand has been posting videos daily to his Rumble and YouTube accounts – potentially earning thousands each month – and often taps into conspiracy theories and anti-establishment narratives which have become popular in some parts of the online world, but are also known for their ability to drive up view counts with their sensationalist and controversial content.

His videos regularly receive hundreds of thousands of views.

As a result, the demonetisation of Brand’s YouTube account is likely to have a significant impact on his earning potential.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro moved to defend Russell Brand suggesting he has been targeted by mainstream media and dismissing allgeations to his six million followers.

He posted on Twitter: ‘Russell Brand, a person I consider a friend, has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and abuse between 2006 to 2013 in a supposed ‘exposé’ from the Sunday Times in the U.K.

‘I didn’t know Russell during that time, but the media did. They knew that Russell Brand was not only promiscuous but incredibly vile in the sorts of things that he said publicly about sex and about women, and yet the media were championing him.

‘Ten years later, when Russell has fixed his life, he gets a full scale exposé about all of the allegations made by these women.’

The Met Police has received a report of an alleged sexual assault in 2003 amid media allegations about Russell Brand.

Officers did not name Brand, but said they were in contact with the woman and were giving her support, according to the BBC.

This week one of the women whose allegations against the star were part of the investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches told the BBC the comedian’s behaviour had been an ‘open secret’.

In a statement the Met said: ‘On Sunday, 17 September, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.’

The force first spoke to the Sunday Times on Saturday, it said, and has now made more approaches to the newspaper and Channel 4 to ensure anyone who believes they are a victim of a sexual offence ‘no matter how long ago it was’ knows how to report it to the police.

The remaining shows of Brand’s Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the Metropolitan Police said they had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.

Brand’s PR firm MBC PR and talent agent Tavistock Wood no longer advertise him as a client, and his publisher has suspended their relationship.

And Netflix has now been urged to remove his comedy special, Re:Birth, from its catalogue.

TV star Michael Barrymore has appeared to express support for Russell Brand who claimed his sexual assault allegations were part of a ‘coordinated attack’ to ‘control’ his voice.

He joins a group of public figures, including Elon Musk, Andrew Tate and Laurence Fox, who all seem to have backed the comedian after he took to social media to ‘absolutely deny’ the ‘criminal allegations made against him’.

The accusations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse were first made against the 48-year-old on Saturday while the Met Police announced yesterday it was investigating a report of sexual assault that allegedly took place in Soho in 2003.

Re-sharing a video, where Brand insisted all relationships he had were consensual before calling the allegations a ‘coordinated media attack’, Barrymore said: ‘This is what they do…’

The 71-year-old’s Tweet of seeming support had been published before the allegations were made public.

Russell Brand was today accused of deliberately building an online cult to make him uncancellable and insulate the millions in income from his ‘wellness’ and conspiracy theory videos.

The comedian, actor and wellness guru has added 5million YouTube subscribers and seen his content viewed more than 1billion times since the launch of the Me Too movement in 2017, MailOnline can reveal.

Experts believe that by making five short videos a week, he will have been making £1million-a-year from YouTube via advertising without taking into account merchandising and sponsorships.

Today the streaming giant cut off his income by stopping him from being able to earn any money through his channel for ‘violating our Creator Responsibility policy’ – but he can still make films for his legion of fans.

Clips of Katy Perry and Sean Lock have resurfaced in light of allegations against Russell Brand.

Footage shows the moment US singer Perry was dumped by Brand by text message in 2011, following their 14 month marriage, the Telegraph reported.

Lock shared the reason he hated Brand in a clip from panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats in 2014.

The late comedian said he had a ‘fear’ his daughters would bring home a man like Brand one day.

It comes as presenter Vanessa Feltz has also shared ‘deeply offensive’ video footage of Brand, which shows him asking to sleep with her and her daughters when she went on his chat shppw in 2006.

YouTube has stopped Russell Brand from being able to earn any money through his channel for ‘violating our Creator Responsibility policy’.

The 48-year-old produces around five videos a week for his 6.6million subscribers, earning him an estimated £1million a year.