Russell Brand suggests girl, 15, have ‘sex-themed’ 16th birthday party in resurfaced clip from BBC radio show

Russell Brand once encouraged a 15-year-old girl to have a “sex-themed” 16th birthday party whilst taking calls from listeners on his BBC radio show, The Russell Brand Show.

The audio clip from 2007 was posted to X/Twitter on Tuesday (19 September) by current affairs programme Channel 4 Dispatches, just days after it published a joint investigation with The Times and The Sunday Times accusing Brand of rape, sexual assault, and abuse. Brand has vehemently denied the “very serious allegations” and insisted that his relationships have “always been consensual”.

In the resurfaced footage, a teenage girl can be heard phoning in to ask for advice on how to celebrate turning 16. Brand, who was in his 30s at the time, responded: “I suppose you’re 16, you can’t drink booze yet or [do] any drugs because that’s illegal. [But] 16 - you will be legally allowed to have sexual partners. I think you should theme the party around legal sex.”

He then suggested she theme the occasion around “vampires”, because while “[she is] still essentially a child”, “[she is] coming of age” and therefore should do something to “heighten the mood of danger”. This, the comedian-turned-conspiracy theorist argued, would make the party “erotic but in a suppressed, suitable way for a 16-year-old girl.”

Meanwhile, in another resurfaced clip from the same programme, also from 2007, Brand claimed that the “policy” he uses for women is to “not get bogged down in age, race, or whether or not they are awake.”

The BBC has said it is “urgently looking into the issues raised”. It also confirmed it had removed some of Brand’s content from its streaming sites and platforms, after deciding it fell “below public expectations.”

In a statement to Dispatches, the broadcaster added: “We have clear expectations around conduct at work. These are set out in employment contracts, the BBC Values, the BBC Code of Conduct, and the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy.”

In the investigation published by The Times, Sunday Times, and Channel 4, Brand was accused of rape, sexual assault, and physical and emotional abuse by four women - including one who claims she was 16 at the time. The incidents allegedly took place over a seven-year period between 2006 and 2013, at the height of the comedian/actor’s fame.

WARNING: There are graphic details of alleged sexual assault below that some readers may find distressing.

One woman alleged that Brand raped her against a wall in his home in Los Angeles in 2012. She was treated at a rape crisis centre on the same day, which The Times said it confirmed via medical records.

A former colleague of Brand’s accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2013, also alleging that he threatened to take legal action against her if she told anyone about her allegation, and another woman claimed Brand sexually assaulted her and was physically and emotionally abusive to her.

A fourth alleged victim claimed Brand sexually assaulted her while she was 16 and still at school. Brand was 31 at the time of the alleged incident.

Since the release of the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and the article by The Times and The Sunday Times, a further woman has come forward to report an alleged sexual assault, it was revealed on Monday (18 September). She alleged to the Met Police she was attacked by Brand in London in 2003. The Met said it had begun initial inquiries.