Katherine Ryan talks Russell Brand allegations after unnamed predators remark

Comedian Katherine Ryan has broken her silence after Russell Brand was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women in Channel 4’s Dispatches documentary.

Brand vehemently denied “criminal and very serious” allegations in a video statement on his YouTube channel before the programme aired, describing the accusations as a “coordinated attack”.

Canadian comedian Katherine, 40, who worked with Brand, 48, on one series of Comedy Central’s Roast Battle, has now addressed the furore in her first podcast since the documentary, entitled A Rainy Day.

After discussing her week and spending time with her loved-ones, Katherine told her listeners at around the 20 minute mark of the broadcast: “And I have nothing else to say about anything… apart from, I guess, passing observation, when a woman says no I don’t want to engage in that conversation and I have no comment on that story, no I won’t be confirming or denying or participating about anything in the news right now, her consent is not valid.”

She went on to add: “Why is my consent totally unimportant when we are speaking a lot in the press right now, speaking about the importance of consent? No is a full sentence, ladies, gentlemen – no!”

Katherine then moved on to another segment of her podcast, by saying: “It’s a lovely in London and when we return, I will open your emails and we’ll see your comments on last week’s podcast.”

It comes as comments from the comic in 2022, about confronting an unnamed male comedian, who she called a “sexual predator”, have resurfaced.

Katherine shared her claims during an interview with documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux in November last year.

The star did not name the “unmentionable British personality” during the conversation with Theroux for legal reasons, but claimed it was an “open secret” in the comedy industry.

Katherine insisted she was not a victim of sexual assault herself, but also said she believed accusations from sources she described as being “very credible” at the time.

The TV personality said she spoke to the man repeatedly “to his face” about his alleged behaviour during filming, but claims the clip was later cut from the recording.

Katherine did not disclose the identity of the famous comedian during her interview with Louis, so it remains unclear who they are.

Brand addressed the allegations made by four women in a video ahead of Dispatches airing on Saturday.

The British comedian said: “I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter, and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like, my community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel, but amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.

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“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. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I’m being transparent about it now as well, and to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question, is there another agenda at play?”

On Monday, the Metropolitan Police released a new statement after the Sunday Times and Dispatches’ investigations into Brand were published.

The police confirmed they have now received a report of a sexual assault, which is alleged to have happened in London 20 years ago.

In a short statement, the Met Police said: “On Sunday September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.

“Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support. We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday September 16 and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.”

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