Russell Brand documentary: Netflix announces details of new release on disgraced comedian
The streaming service’s documentary on the disgraced UK entertainer is set to hit the small screen the same week he was jailed.
Netflix has revealed that its new documentary on the public downfall of Russell Brand will air the same week the disgraced comedian was jailed.
Russell Brand: Open Secret is set to premiere on Friday, just four days after the 51-year-old was jailed for 10 and a half years for rape and sexual assault.
The documentary claims it will chart Brand’s journey from “from comedian and film star to political activist and YouTuber known for spouting conspiracies theories” to his current status as a prison inmate.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.It has been crafted by the producers of a 2022 documentary on another disgraced UK entertainer - Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story - and is directed by Olivia Isaacs, whose previous work includes the true crime series The Other Mrs Jordan.
The documentary is also set to include interviews with former members of Brand’s inner circle.
It also comes after the streaming giant received widespread backlash for its refusal to remove its 2018 stand-up special featuring Brand: Russell Brand: Re: Birth, in the wake of his conviction.
Known for risqué stand-up routines and battles with drugs and alcohol, Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s, hosting television programs and his own BBC radio show. He appeared in Hollywood films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.
In recent years he has moved away from mainstream media, relocated to Florida and built a large online following with videos mixing wellness, conspiracy theories and discussions of his religious devotion.
However, on Monday Brand was labelled a “sexual predator” protected by his fame he was sentenced to 10½ years’ jail for a litany of sexual abuse in Southwark Crown Court.
Judge Joel Bennathan told Brand he had acted with “staggering arrogance” and shown “contempt” for his victims, who had suffered significant and lasting harm.
The former comedian was found guilty of raping one woman in a 1999 encounter and sexually assaulting three others between 2004 and 2009.
The judge said Brand’s status protected him until he was exposed in 2023 by journalists from the Sunday Times, The Times and the Channel 4 Dispatches programme, leading to women coming forward to make complaints to police.
He said Brand had a “casual arrogant disregard to any woman’s right to say no to you”.
