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An internal review conducted by the BBC into Russell Brand’s time as a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music between 2006 and 2008 revealed many staff felt too intimidated to speak out about the comedian’s behavior. The report found employees “stayed silent” because they believed that Brand, who was seen as “influential,” would “always get his way,” and systems for making complaints were unclear. The investigation arose after several women accused Brand of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse in 2023. Brand denied these allegations and stated that his relationships were “always consensual.” The report found one formal complaint made when he worked for the corporation about Brand’s inappropriate conduct in the workplace.
However, even with this one complaint, no evidence suggested that his behavior was raised with management formally. The BBC did apologize to staff who felt that they couldn’t come forward about concerns regarding his misconduct earlier. Many people interviewed for the review “believed, rightly or wrongly, that Russell Brand would always get his way,” the report said. Brand’s consensual sexual relationship with a competition winner from his 6 Music show at BBC premises was also mentioned, with the individual involved believing that they were taken advantage of in that situation.
Despite all this information, the culture during this time and the handling of workplace complaints were found to be inadequate by the report. There should have been better systems in place to ensure that Brand’s unacceptable behavior was promptly addressed, and the complaint process was declared inadequate. The BBC admits its past management mistakes in handling such matters, with another complaint made against Brand in Los Angeles in 2008 which went unnoticed, the report claimed. The review concluded with an apology from the BBC, promising to “fulfill its duty of care to all its employees,” with critical changes to support them in raising concerns in a secure environment
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