The BBC issued an apology for staff who felt they couldn’t speak up about concerns regarding Russell Brand’s behavior because he was viewed as too influential.
Peter Johnston, the BBC’s director of editorial reviews and complaints, said Thursday that he investigated eight complaints against Brand. Only one of eight complaints was made formally. Two of the complaints came while Brand worked for the BBC.
BBC began the investigation in 2023 after several women made allegations that the 49-year old actor and comedian sexually abused or emotionally abused them.
Johnston said: “The culture of the time undoubtedly influenced what was acceptable/tolerated, but I have found that a number of individuals had concerns about Russell Brand’s behaviour which they felt unable to raise then.”
According to the BBC, those who were affected by Brand’s actions felt that he “would always get what he wanted and so they remained silent”.
The 49-year-old actor and comedian has denied all allegations and maintained that his sexual relations were “absolutely consensual”.
The BBC apologized after publishing the results of an internal investigation into Brand’s tenure as a BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music presenter between 2006 and 2008
The formal complaint was filed in regards to Brand urinating and acting aggressively on his Radio 2 program. Now the BBC admits that it “was not dealt with effectively”.
According to the report, many of the people interviewed for the investigation believed, “rightly or incorrectly, that Russell Brand always got his way, and so they stayed quiet” and “had support from the station management”.
The report stated that although one informal complaint had been made, “it was clear that other concerns existed but the parties involved were unable or unwilling at the time to voice them as they believed the concerns would be not taken seriously as the systems of making complaints weren’t as clear as now”.
Brand also had consensual sexual relations with a winner of his 6 Music competition on BBC premises, according to the review.
The person informed the review team of the fact that, although the sex had been consensual, they felt that “Brand abused his power and took advantage of them”.
The report said that management failures and lack of systems were major reasons why the BBC failed to deal with Brand’s behavior.
Channel 4, where Brand worked as a host, published its own internal review results in March 2024. After the investigation found that it hadn’t investigated a “serious complaint” made against the star back in 2009, its boss apologized to a former worker.
