# BBC comes under fire for ‘passing the buck’ on Russell Brand: Comedian boasted his boss was ‘incredibly tolerant’ of his sexual behaviour – as he joked about raping and killing woman and having sex with children

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/bbc-comes-under-fire-for-passing-the-buck-on-russell-brand-comedian-boasted-his-boss-was-incredibly-tolerant-of-his-sexual-behaviour-as-he-joked-about-raping-and-killing-woman-and-having-se/
- Published: 2026-11-06T17:54:42+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-06T18:04:13+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16270887/BBC-comes-fire-passing-buck-Russell-Brand-Comedian-boasted-boss-incredibly-tolerant-sexual-behaviour-joked-raping-killing-woman-having-sex-children.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: World

## Key points

- BBC review found eight complaints about Brand, with no action taken.
- Two complaints were made while he worked for the BBC.
- The corporation faces renewed criticism over its response.

## Summary

An internal BBC review found that eight complaints were made about Russell Brand’s inappropriate behaviour, including two during his BBC employment from 2006 to 2008, but no action was taken. The findings have renewed criticism of the corporation’s handling of the case, with an employment lawyer saying its initial response appeared to shift responsibility to other organisations.

Brand wrote that Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas was “incredibly tolerant” of his behaviour and that she gave him room to act. The article says he described sexual encounters involving competition winners and a newsreader, and reports claims of lewd messages, urinating in the studio and jokes about sexual violence and children; Douglas’s commitment to him was also criticised by former colleagues. The BBC has apologised following Brand’s conviction for rape and three other serious sexual offences, and police are preparing for further allegations.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.