Banijay UK launches “urgent internal investigation” – The Hollywood Reporter
Following allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse against Russell Brand, which spanned seven years at the height of his fame and were made on Saturday based on a The Times, the Sunday Times And Channel 4 shows The British arm of major production company Banijay said on Sunday that it had launched an “urgent” internal investigation.
The times and Channel 4’s investigation into Brand found that four women claimed this Brand sexually abused her between 2006 and 2013, while he was a BBC presenter and appeared in Hollywood films. It also spoke of controlling, abusive and predatory behavior from the star, who has vehemently denied the misconduct.
Saturday’s reports also included allegations that Brand showed his penis to a runner and pursued women in the audience for sex while working on the shows EFourum And Big brother’s big mouthwhich were produced by Endemol for Channel 4. Endemol and Shine Group merged in 2015 to form Endemol Shine, which Banijay acquired in 2020.
“Given the very serious allegations made by broadcasts And The Times/Sunday Times Banijay UK has launched an urgent internal investigation and will cooperate with all requests for information from broadcast partners and external agencies,” the company said in a statement on Sunday. “We also encourage anyone who feels they have been affected by Brand’s behavior while working on these productions to contact us in confidence.”
The actor and comedian preemptively denied the allegations he reported Just and Channel 4` in a video posted on its social media platforms on Friday. He said he received an email and letter from a mainstream television station and newspaper detailing several “outrageous and aggressive” acts that he “absolutely rejects.”[s].”
“These allegations relate to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous,” he said in the video posted to Twitter and Instagram. “During this period of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I always made it transparent back then – almost too transparent – and I do the same now.”
Banijay gave an initial reaction to the reports on Saturday. “Banijay UK has robust welfare procedures and policies in place aimed at preventing such occurrences and protecting cast, crew and staff,” it said. “Additionally, all of our productions have escalation protocols in place to encourage anyone who experiences or observes inappropriate behavior on set or in the workplace to speak out. A global code of conduct, an anonymous whistleblower hotline and dedicated senior HR contacts are promoted for all production teams, including on-call lists.” The production giant concluded: “We take our duty of care towards our cast, crew and staff extremely seriously.”
Commenting on the historic allegations against Brand, Banijay UK had said on Saturday: “While the predecessor company Endemol had a code of conduct, support guidelines and escalation procedures in place during the period in question (2004/2005), this was not as robust as our current processes. We regret that these women did not feel supported and protected while working on these productions and, given these serious allegations, encourage them to contact us in confidence.”
