One of Russell Brand’s accusers has claimed a BBC car took her from school to the star’s house when she was 16 years old.
“Alice” told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour the alleged abusive relationship left her feeling “cheap and dirtied”.
She went on to say Brand’s denial of the accusations was “insulting”, adding: “It’s laughable that he would even imply that this is some kind of mainstream media conspiracy. He’s not outside the mainstream.”
It comes as Downing Street described the allegations against Brand as “very serious and concerning”.
“Alice” said Brand groomed her, referred to her as “The Child” and assaulted her during their three-month relationship.
She told Woman’s Hour that a BBC chauffer-driven car picked her up from school to take her back to Brand’s house.
“He had a friend who was taking him to do his radio show so he said to me, ‘You get in the car and you go wherever you need to go from there’, so I took the BBC car that time,” she said.
“And on another occasion it picked me up from school… back to his house.”
Alice said she told Brand she was 16 before their first date, adding: “He just replied saying, ‘OK, so we’re still on for dinner at 7.30?’
“He was 30. Now that I’m in my 30s looking at 16-year-olds, I can’t imagine finding them sexually attractive. I can’t imagine thinking of them as a potential mate in any way.”
She said she would like to know why more was not done by the corporation at the time of their relationship in 2006, adding: “He had a very well-known record of doing things that were inappropriate on the air, having inappropriate conversations. I don’t think he was being held to the same standards as other presenters or newsreaders.
“There were exceptions and allowances made for him and we need to ask ourselves why.”
The BBC has confirmed it is “urgently looking into the issues raised”.
‘I felt dirtied by the whole thing’
She said her mother tried to do everything she could to end the relationship but added: “Russell groomed me and told me to save his number in my phone as a different name. He coached me on what to say to my parents.”
The woman claimed she met Brand when he was 30 and he worked as a presenter on Radio 2.
Describing her alleged abusive relationship with Brand, she said: “It’s certainly had an impact on my relationships going forward… it was my first sexual experience, I felt used up, I felt cheap, I felt dirtied by the whole thing and so then I went on to have another series of relationships with people that were, for want of a better word, sleazy.
“Because I just thought if I go for bottom of the barrel I can never be disappointed and I can never be hurt because I know to expect the absolute worst.”
She said she was struggling with mental health issues and recovering from an eating disorder at the time, all of which contributed to her failing to finish her A-levels.
The Sunday Times says in 2020 Alice contacted Brand’s literary agent at the time, who was also the co-founder of talent agency Tavistock Wood.
A spokesperson for the agency said Brand “categorically and vehemently denied the allegations” at the time but they now believe they were “horribly misled” and have terminated all professional ties with the comedian.
More women come forward after accusations
Four women have made allegations of sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013 as part of an investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
The BBC said in a statement: “The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.
“Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.”
Since publication, The Times said it had been contacted by “several women” with claims about Brand, but said their allegations have not yet been investigated and “will now be rigorously checked”.
Brand, 48, vehemently denies the allegations. and claimed in a video posted online on Friday night that all of his relationships have been “consensual”.
Meanwhile, Brand’s former manager, John Noel, said he was “very surprised” by the allegations and he never had any complaints about Brand “other than turning up late”.
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