Last year, Channel 4 said they didn’t find any evidence employees knew of the accusations but found out one former employee made a ‘serious and concerning allegation’
Channel 4’s chairman, Ian Cheshire and chief executive Alex Mahon have said the failure to properly investigate a complaint made against Russell Brand was “horrendous”. Last year, Channel 4 said they didn’t find any evidence employees knew of the accusations but found out one former employee made a ‘serious and concerning allegation’ against the comedian in 2009.
In 2023, controversial comedian Brand found himself at the centre of numerous allegations of rape, assault and emotional abuse that are said to have taken place between 2006 and 2013. During this time, he presented on BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and starred in several Hollywood films.
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When interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and questioned about the allegations, Brand called them “very, very hurtful”. He has also vehemently denied the allegations against him.
And now, Cheshire and Mahon from Channel 4 appeared in front of the UK’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee to discuss the allegations.
CEO Mahon previously apologised to a former staff member for not investigating a “serious” allegation made against the comedian in 2009.
A review by the channel found “no evidence” that its staff knew about the accusations made by four women before the airing of the 2023 Dispatches documentary.
Mahon was questioned by MPs on whether Channel 4’s response was adequate, she said: “Obviously, all the management has changed at Channel 4 since that occasion but it was absolutely wrong that that complaint was not dealt with adequately at the time.
“And most horrendous for the individual that it was kind of referred up the chain but didn’t go further. And I’ve been very clear on the record that that was not the appropriate way to deal with it.”
Mahon also defended having the comedian on an episode of The Great Celebrity Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer in 2019, adding there was “not a set of public allegations on the record” and it was “very difficult for the women that did have allegations to be listened to”.
She said all productions have a whistleblowing call line for Channel 4, which will get a ‘small number’ of complaints each year, and they got ‘fully investigated’.
“None of us want bad behaviour across the industry, and we need multiple mechanisms in place to ensure that when it occurs, if it occurs, it is caught or can be reported very easily, with no risk to the individuals involved,” Mahon continued.
“Because what we definitely saw in the Brand case, and we have seen in other cases, that the risk to individuals is very high, and so the fear of reporting is very, very high.”
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