The foreign secretary has said the entertainment industry has questions to answer, after revelations that the comedianJames Cleverly became the most senior British politician to talk about the issue after the allegations about Brand’s behaviour were published by the Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches on Saturday night. Brand has strongly denied the allegations.
Asked whether he thought there were questions for the entertainment industry more broadly to answer, he added: “Sadly I think there are.” Cleverly was speaking the morning after the allegations were published, after a multi-year investigation by the Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.that Brand had been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and abusive behaviour between 2006 and 2013.
Another woman said Brand raped her in his home in Los Angeles in 2012, after which she visited a rape crisis centre. The Sunday Times published texts to her – from a phone number that they said multiple sources verified as belonging to Brand – in which he said: “I’m sorry. That was crazy and selfish.”