A second police investigation has been launched into allegations against comedian Russell Brand, it has been revealed.
Thames Valley Police said on Tuesday (AEDT) it had been contacted by a woman a fortnight ago with “new information” in relation to reports of “harassment and stalking”.
The latest update follows confirmation last week by London’s Metropolitan Police that it had opened an investigation into Brand after receiving “a number of allegations of sexual offences” after a television documentary and newspaper investigations.
Police said there had been no arrests.
Brand, 48, denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and The Times and Sunday Times newspapers.
The accusers, who have not been named, include one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16.
Another woman says Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.
The BBC reports that the woman in the Thames Valley investigation reported her allegations to police numerous times between 2018 and 2022 but no further action was taken.
Brand also accused the woman of harassment against him in 2017.
Thames Valley Police covers an area north-west of London, including Henley-on-Thames, where Brand lives with wife Laura Gallacher and their two young children. Gallacher is expecting their third child.
The force confirmed it was looking into the new information but said “it would be inappropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation”.
Known for his unbridled and risqué standup routines, Brand was a major British star in the early 2000s.
He hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in Hollywood movies and was married to pop star Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012.
Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built up a large following online with videos mixing wellness and anti-establishment messages.
Last month, YouTube said it would stop Brand from making money from its streaming site, where he has 6.6 million subscribers, due to the “serious allegations” against him.
Promoters also cancelled scheduled live shows by Brand and he has been dropped by his talent agency and a publisher since the allegations became public.
In response, Brand has accused “big tech”, the British government and mainstream media of trying to shut down independent voices in a broadcast on the online video site Rumble, where he has 1.6 million followers.
“I now, in particular, have a new experience on the way that the media and the state can co-operate and corroborate one another’s narratives and stories,” he said, although he made no direct reference to the assault allegations.
“Obviously, it is difficult for me to be entirely objective given the events of the last week, but that’s what we must try to do.”
Rumble has rejected calls from British parliamentarians, among others, to stop Brand from making money from its site.
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