*Trigger Warning: Some readers may find this article distressing as it contains explicit details and language that some might find offensive.

Russell Brand has broken his silence.

Russell Brand has broken his silence one week on from the series of very serious allegations made against him. Last Saturday, it emerged that Brand had been accused of rape, sexual assault, and controlling and emotionally abusive behaviour – allegations that the actor and comedian strongly denies. The allegations came to light following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches. On the Friday night before the media outlets went public with their investigation, Brand issued a video statement denying unspecified "criminal allegations" set to be published against him. In the days since, however, he remained quiet. That is until now. Late yesterday evening, Brand released a video in which he said:

“Obviously it's been an extraordinary and distressing week and I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that you have been presented with. “By now, you are probably aware that the British government have asked big tech platforms to censor our online content and that some online platforms have complied with that request.”

Brand then began talking about the media, especially the Trusted News Initiative - which is a partnership of international news organisations that aims to tackle disinformation. He said: “Now, as is often the case when a word like 'trusted' is used as part of an acronym to describe an unelected body, trust is the last thing you should be offering. "The Trusted News Initiative is a collaboration between big tech and legacy media organisations to target, control, choke and shut down independent media organisations, like this one. “It's clear that these organisations collaborate in constructing narratives, whether that's around the war or the pandemic, and of course there are other examples. And it's very clear to me that we have to be very, very cautious indeed.” Brand then began urging his followers to follow him on the Canadian social media platform Rumble. "Rumble have made a clear commitment to free speech and Rumble is the primary platform that we will be streaming from. We'll be back this Monday," he added. The comedian concluded his video by stating: "I need your support now more than ever and more than I ever imagined I would."

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