Fifer Daniel Sloss was ‘the only comedian willing to speak on the record’ about sex allegations levelled at Russell Brand in a new investigation.
Comedian and actor Brand, 48, has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse during a seven-year period following a joint probe by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
Four women are alleging sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, including one who claims she was raped in Brand’s Los Angeles home.
Another alleges she was assaulted by then 31-year-old Brand when she was just 16 and still attending school.
Others have made a range of accusations about Brand’s controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
Brand has denied the allegations and said his relationships have been “always consensual”.
Daniel Sloss only comedian to go on the record
The media organisations interviewed “hundreds of sources who knew or worked with Brand”, including “comedians and other celebrities” as part of their investigation.
However, Daniel Sloss was the only comedian willing to speak on the record and use his real name.
The 33-year-old attended East Wemyss Primary School and Waid Academy in Anstruther.
According to The Times, Sloss first heard rumours about Brand’s alleged behaviour on the comedy circuit over a decade ago.
He claims female comedians set up online groups to warn each other of those working in the comedy industry who they have had ‘unpleasant experiences’ with, including predatory behaviour.
Sloss told The Times: “I know for many, many years that women have been warning each other about Russell.”
“I know there are comedians who have made references in jokes to Russell’s alleged crimes and have either been asked or told not to do those jokes any more.”
Russell Brand worked for BBC during period of claims
During the years covered by the allegations, Brand had various high-profile jobs.
He was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4, then a Hollywood actor.
Brand has since reinvented himself as a wellness guru online.
Brand denies allegations in YouTube video
On Friday, Brand released a video in which he denied “serious criminal allegations” he said were about to be made against him.
The actor and comedian said he had received letters from a TV company and newspaper, containing “a litany” of “aggressive attacks”.
In the video, posted on YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter, Brand said: “Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.
“These allegations pertain 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.
“Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.”
Brand said he believed he was the subject of a “co-ordinated attack” and he was going to look into the matter because it was “very, very serious”.
The investigation has been published on the Sunday Times website, while the Dispatches documentary, Russell Brand – In Plain Sight, will air on Saturday at 9pm on Channel 4.
The Times and The Sunday Times gave Russell Brand eight days to respond to the detailed allegations.
They say: “Lawyers for Brand initially said that they were not in a position to provide any response to the allegations because we had posed a “large litany of questions” and had intentionally chosen to anonymise the names of the women.
“They characterised this as deliberate and part of a pre-conceived strategy aimed at damaging their client.
“They said that publication was a “concerted campaign” and their client believes that there is a “deeply concerning agenda to all this, namely the fact that he is an alternative media broadcaster competing with mainstream media”.
“Pressed to provide a full response, the same lawyers did not reply.”
