Russell Brand has been accused by a film extra of sexual assault during the production of “Arthur” in July 2010.
In a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court on Friday and obtained by Variety, a woman – referred to as Jane Doe – said Brand “appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and was carrying a bottle of vodka on set” before the assault.
Brand, who played the titular role in 2011’s ‘Arthur’, then exposed himself to the complainant and in front of the cast and crew, the lawsuit claims.
“The sexual assault occurred later that day while I was in the bathroom. Mr Brand entered after me and assaulted me while a member of the production crew guarded the door from the outside,” the lawsuit reads. “As a result of the sexual assault, I have suffered and continue to suffer extreme embarrassment, shame and fear.”
Companies involved in the production – including Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Discovery, MBST Entertainment, BenderSpink and Langley Park Pictures – are also named as defendants.
Brand starred in the 2011 romcom Arthur, a remake of the 1981 film starring Dudley Moore, alongside Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig and Jennifer Garner.
Brand has yet to respond to the lawsuit over the Arthur set. In September, the comedian and actor was accused of “rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse” by four women between 2006 and 2013, following a joint investigation by the Sunday Times of London and Channel 4’s Dispatches documentary team. Brand preemptively denied the allegations in a YouTube video entitled “So, This Is Happening”, in which he said he “absolutely refutes” the “litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks”. An investigation by the BBC and Banijay U.K. is ongoing.
