In 2013, during an onstage Q&A, Russell Brand described himself as “just a bloke from Essex, from a single-parent family that’s a pretty comprehensive show-off. Oh and also I raped someone once.” Netflix’s Russell Brand: Open Secret includes the recording alongside other archive clips of him joking about sexual violence.
This footage was widely deleted from YouTube and SoundCloud after sexual-assault allegations against Brand became public in 2023.
The documentary arrived on November 13, 4 days after Brand was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison. A jury convicted him on November 5 of 1 rape and 3 sexual assaults involving 4 women, with offences dating from 2004 to 2009. He was acquitted of 3 other counts.
Another clip shows Brand on MTV pretending to finish a phone call before telling the camera, “that was the Metropolitan Police Force; apparently I’m wanted for a series of terrible crimes.” The documentary combines footage from his career with accounts from former partners, roommates and fellow comedians.
Among those interviewed is his ex-girlfriend Jordan Martin, who alleges that Brand sexually assaulted her after an argument and made her brush her teeth until her gums bled. “He wanted me to taste anonymous,” she says. “He didn’t want me to be familiar to him and so he was asking me to brush my teeth but it was just never enough.”
Directed by Olivia Isaacs and made by 72 Films, the company behind Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, the documentary follows Brand’s comedy career, move into political commentary and criminal trial. It also includes the response his lawyers sent to reporters investigating allegations against him: their client “believes there is a deeply concerning agenda to all this, namely the fact that he is an alternative media broadcaster competing with mainstream media.”