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Russell Brand Update: "Roast Battle" Boot, Book Deal Pause, Channel 4

Fallout from the Russell Brand report: reportedly booted from 2018's "Roast Battle"; publishing deal pause; Channel 4 internal investigation.

As the fallout continues from a joint investigative report from The Sunday Times of London and Channel 4 – as well as the Channel 4 "Dispatches" doc Russell Brand: In Plain Sight – accusing actor/comedian Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek) of "rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse," there are a number of updates that have come into play since the report first went live this weekend. Here's a look at what's hit the headlines recently:

Brand Booted from Comedy Central's "Roast Battle" in 2018: In an exclusive from Deadline Hollywood, Brand was reportedly let go from Comedy Central's Roast Battle in 2018 after fellow judge  Katherine Ryan repeatedly roasted Brand on camera over allegations that he had sexually assaulted women in the past. Though the comments never made it to air, Brand was reportedly angered at being a target – leading to Brand not being asked back. "Contract negotiations were made as tricky as possible, is the best way to put it. In the end, it came down to the fact that it seemed like Russell didn't have a good sense of humor. He didn't feel he was fair game," claimed one source in the article.

U.K. Book Publisher Pauses Brand Deal: U.K. book giant Pan Macmillan's imprint Bluebird is pausing all future Brand projects for the time being. "These are very serious allegations, and in the light of them, Bluebird has taken the decision to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand," announced Bluebird via a statement reported by The Bookseller. Recovery: The Workbook ( a follow-up to Recovery: Freedom from our Addictions and Mentors: How to Help and Be Helped) was previously set for a December release.

Channel 4 Investigation: Channel 4 has launched its own investigation into sexual assault and misconduct allegations based on weekend reporting. Reportedly, Channel 4 head Alex Mahon shared with staff via email that an investigation was underway to determine if people "had knowledge of the alleged behaviors" while emphasizing the company's new "whistleblower" policies to safeguard those who come forward. Early in his career, Brand starred in Channel 4 shows Big Brother's Big Mouth, E4's Russell Brand's Got Issues, and The Russell Brand Show.

Russell Brand: The Sunday Times of London & Channel 4 Report

The report alleges that Brand sexually assaulted four women between 2006 and 2013 (with The Sunday Times of London keeping the names of the women anonymous). One alleged victim claims the actor/comedian assaulted her when she was 16 years old, and Brand was in his 30s, adding that Brand had nicknamed her "the child" and asked that she read from Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. Another alleged victim shared that she was raped at Brand's home in Los Angeles, while another claimed that Brand sexually assaulted her and then threatened her with legal action if she ever went public with what took place.

"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," Brand says at one point in the video "So, This Is Happening" that he posted late Friday in the U.K., seeking to pre-emptively refute the allegations before they went public. "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. I was always transparent about that then — almost too transparent — and I'm being transparent about it now as well." The television, film & radio personality has been less visible on that side of the entertainment industry over the past several years, focusing more on social media & YouTube posts that offer his quite often controversial positions on any number of topics – with the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the mainstream media being some of Brand's favorite topics to attack (though Brand has been accused by many in the media of promoting unfounded conspiracy theories and pandemic misinformation in the past). Since the report went live earlier today, Brand has been dropped by his talent agency, Tavistock Wood.

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