Russell Brand closes charity for addiction and mental health issues

By Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Russell Brand has closed his charity for addiction and mental health support, the Charity Commission has said.

In 2023, four women accused the comedian and actor, 49, of sexual assault between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and starring in Hollywood films.

Brand vehemently denies the allegations and said all of his relationships have been “consensual”.

The Charity Commission said it was told on September 23rd that Brand’s Stay Free Foundation “no longer operates and should be removed from the register of charities”.

The charity, which was described on its website as an organisation that focuses on “supporting people through recovery from addiction, their mental health issues and the non-profit organisations that help them”, was removed officially in January.

The Charity Commission’s website said it had total income of £126,130, and expenditure of £52,353 as of June 2023.

Following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, which was published in September 2023, a number of charities including the Trevi Women & Children’s Charity and the Treasures Foundation cut ties with Brand and his foundation.

Brand has been outspoken in his memoirs and comedy shows about being rehabilitated from heroin addiction in 2003.

His Community festival had donated all profits to the Stay Free Foundation.

Last month, a BBC review into Brand’s conduct during his time with the corporation found a number of people “felt unable to raise” concerns about the presenter and believed he “would always get his way and therefore they stayed silent”.

The corporation apologised, and said it was of “great concern that some of these individuals” felt they could not make complaints about Brand when he was on BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 between 2006 and 2008.

In November, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it was considering bringing charges against Brand.

The Met said it received a number of reports of sexual offences from women in London and elsewhere in the country after the investigation.

A man in his 40s was interviewed by officers three times under caution in relation to the allegations, the force said at the time.

Brand has been contacted for comment.