Russell Brand has performed live on stage in London just hours after being publicly accused of rape and sexual assault.
The comedian performed a show at the Troubadour Wembley Park theater which began just after 9pm. 20 Saturday – approximately one hour after the scheduled start time.
A video of him taking to the stage, published by The Sun, shows him smiling and telling the crowds: “Thank you, thank you, I love you.”
It was one of his four remaining dates on his Russell Brand Bipolarisation live show.
Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse in an investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches – allegations he denies.
According to the newspaper, four women have come forward with sexual assault allegations between 2006 and 2013, while he was at the height of his fame.
The Sunday Times reports that others have made a number of allegations about Feels controlling, abusive and oppressive behaviour.
In an overnight video posted on YouTube, Brand denied ‘very serious criminal charges’ which he said would be done against him by a newspaper and a television company.
In the video, titled “So, This is Happening”, the comedian denied the claims, which he described as “a litany of extremely violent and aggressive attacks”.
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Russell Brand denies ‘serious allegations’
A prosecutor says she was only 16
The year-long investigation by the two news outlets focuses on the allegations of four women.
The first told them she was 16 and still at school when she entered into a relationship with Brand after meeting him while out shopping in central London.
Another woman says she was raped by Brand in his Los Angeles home.
The paper details that she was treated at a rape crisis center the same day and sent him a text afterwards which read: “When a girl says[s] NO means no.”
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Brand promotes his autobiography My Booky Wook in 2009. Image: AP
A third woman claims he sexually assaulted her at his West Hollywood home after the pair met at Alcoholics Anonymous.
And the fourth claims to have been physically and emotionally abused by him.
A female comedian, who has not been named, also recalls being “grabbed” and “bitten” in the face by Brand when they performed together in the early 2000s.
She compares his alleged behavior at parties to the character in the 1987 movie Predator.
The BBC and Channel 4 issue statements
After a career with both the BBC and Channel 4 ended in him being forced to resign from his Radio 2 show, he moved to the US to pursue a Hollywood film career.
There he had a two-year marriage to pop star Katy Perry before returning to Britain, where he married and had two children.
He and Laura Gallacher, sister of presenter Kirsty Gallacher, are expecting a third child.
Brand, now 48, is now best known for his social media videos and podcast, which often see him espouse conspiracy theories.
The BBC said in a statement that it has “evolved its approach to how it deals with talent and how it deals with complaints or issues raised”.
Channel 4 said it would ask the production company that made the programs “to investigate these allegations and report their findings correctly and satisfactorily to us”.