Russell Brand: reactions to him denying ‘criminal allegations’ as journalist says women's accounts will be broadcast

Well known faces from the media have reacted to a video made by comedian Russell Brand, in which he revealed “criminal allegations” have been made against him by a “mainstream media TV company” and a newspaper - and denied them.

In the video, which was posted on Brand’s official Twitter (now X) page just after 11.20pm on Friday (15 September), said: “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 have 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 am being transparent about it now as well.”

He also said that he had been sent an email and a letter which included “very serious allegations” that he “absolutely refute(s).”

Brand’s comments come as interest grows around the content of a special Dispatches programme, which will air tonight (Saturday 16 September) on Channel 4. The story is also expected to be written about in The Times and the Sunday Times. Brand said in the video he received letters from a “mainstream media TV company” and a newspaper which he said included a “litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks”. But he did not name them.

But, ahead of the programme, various media personalities have already made their opinions very clear. But, just what has been said and by who? This is what you need to know.

What have people said about Russell Brand’s video?

People have taken to social media site X to express their opinions on Brand and the Dispatches programme.

A lot of people, at the time of writing, have supported Brand via the platform. But not all.

Award-winning journalist and BBC Newsnight host Victoria Derbyshire seemed to confirm the link between Brand’s video and the upcoming programme when she said. “Ahead of tonight’s Channel 4 Dispatches investigation, Russell Brand says his relationships were ‘always consensual’. Watch the womens’ accounts. 9pm @Channel4.” However, Brand has not said anything about the Dispatches show and the makers of the programme have also not confirmed the content of the programme nor who it features.

Brand has, however, received lots of support from others, who have replied to his video to express their solidarity with him. X owner Elon Musk is among those supporters. He replied within half an hour of the video being posted - reacting to Brand's claims that the mainstream media is out to get him because he speaks the "truth" on his YouTube channel - and wrote: “Of course. They don’t like competition.”

A magazine which states it was created  “in honour of Elon Musk bringing free speech to X”, Marauder Magazine, simply posted a famous quote from ancient Greek philosopher Plato which read “No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth."

Infamous influencer Andrew Tate also labelled the allegations brand spoke of as a “Matrix attack”. In another post, Tate also welcomed Brand to “the club”, posting an image of a fighter with the caption “on my way to fight the crazy b**** allegations”.

Tate and his brother have been under investigation since April alongside two Romanian nationals, and “appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost,” according to a report from the Reuters news agency. The four all continue to deny all charges and remain under investigation.

Brand, who is also an actor, writer and political activist, also received backing from several GB news journalists. Mid-morning host Beverley Turner re-posted Brand’s video with a lengthy statement in which she referred to him as a hero and also distanced GB news from other mainstream media outlets.

She wrote: “You are being attacked @rustyrockets Establishment media don't know what to do with the fact that you have 6million subscribers & generate autonomous, knowing and original content. You are welcome on my @GBNEWS show anytime. We are mainstream media. But we are not Establishment media. There's a difference. Keep going. This proves you are winning. You're a hero.”

Another GB News presenter Tonia Buxton said: “They do not like truth speakers” and used the hashtag #StayFree

Author, cardiologist and campaigner Doctor Aseem Malhotra also re-posted Brand’s video and said: “We support you mate.”

There were rumours that the Sunday Times were going to publish a story about the Dispatches programme at 3pm today (16 September), but at the time of writing this time had been and gone and no stories about it had been published on The Times website.

Amid the speculation, Brand has been removed from his PR firm MBC PR and talent agency Tavistock Wood's websites. He was represented by both firms but their websites do not list him as a client, the Mirror has revealed. However, it's understood he is still be represented by MBC PR.