Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, has warned that Russell Brand’s conviction for rape and sexual assault must be a “wake-up call” to the media world and beyond, after widespread concerns over the failures to confront his behaviour.
With renewed calls from TV insiders for a new examination of how Brand’s treatment of women was tolerated for so long, Nandy said the case was a “defining moment for our country”.
Nandy called on employers to ensure vulnerable whistleblowers are protected. It follows concerns raised during Brand’s trial that some women thought they would not be believed because of his status.
“Yesterday’s ruling must mark a defining moment for our country,” Nandy said. “It is only because of the bravery of the women who came forward that action was taken. If it wasn’t for them and the persistence of a handful of journalists, justice would not have been done. They remind us why a free press matters.
“This must now be a wake-up call. In media and entertainment, just as in politics and other forms of public life, the power imbalances are huge. So many people are employed on flexible contracts and reliant on contacts and reputation to pursue a career.
“This places a particular responsibility on organisations and individuals to protect whistleblowers, ensure concerns are taken seriously and to speak up themselves.”
She urged media companies to sign up to the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, which has set up a long-awaited online portal that allows workers to report harassment and abuse concerns.
“There have been too many cases of powerful men abusing others in this industry in recent years,” Nandy said. “We owe it to all of the women who so bravely came forward in this case, and other victims of abuse, to ensure this is the line in the sand.”
It comes after a prominent TV producer was said to have “laughed” as Brand sexually assaulted a woman has “stepped back” from his current production job.
Jack Bayles, head of comedy at the independent production company Various Artists Limited (VAL), has been dropped from his current projects, understood to include The Choir, the new show by James Corden and Ruth Jones, and a new series of the BBC’s Such Brave Girls.
During Brand’s trial, the court heard that Bayles was working with Brand on a Channel ۴ project in ۲۰۰۹ when he and another producer asked a woman who worked for the broadcaster to give Brand a massage.
The woman told the trial Brand thrust his head into her lap while she was forced to massage him, while those present, including Bayles, watched and laughed.
A spokesperson for VAL said: “We have asked Jack Bayles to step back from the company whilst we consider the verdict and events surrounding the trial. Our thoughts, though, are primarily with every one of Brand’s victims at this time.”
In a statement, Bayles said he was “appalled and sickened” by Brand’s actions and had “cooperated fully and voluntarily with the investigation”. However, he said he did not remember the incident.
“I acknowledge that I clearly missed something at the time and did not see nor recognise that it caused distress,” he said. “For that I am sincerely sorry.”
He said that at the time of the offence, he was in the early stages of his career amid “a frantic, pressured and toxic working environment”.
The incident has prompted renewed concerns about failures to challenge Brand’s behaviour throughout his TV and radio career. Brand also found prominence elsewhere in the media, writing columns for the Guardian and appearing on the BBC’s Question Time.
Even on air, Brand and his team joked about having exposed himself to a woman before his BBC Radio ۲ show.
This week, the BBC has repeated its apology after a previous review found some employees with concerns about Brand had felt unable to speak out because of his status and power.
Channel ۴ said it recognised the “profound impact of these crimes” committed by Brand and praised the women for coming forward. Its own review of complaints about Brand’s behaviour, published in ۲۰۲۴, found concerns were not passed on properly to senior figures, while another was not properly investigated.
However, Naomi Harvey, who told the Guardian that she and her colleagues raised concern about Brand’s behaviour while they worked on Channel ۴’s Big Brothers Big Mouth in the early noughties, said she believed there was a case for looking again at how he went unchallenged.
“I do think that, following the [۲۰۲۳ Channel ۴ Dispatches documentary on Brand] and now this trial, there should be a public call for others to come forward,” she said. “But crucially, I believe that call should come from Channel ۴.”
She added: “We’ve seen a number of high-profile figures face a very public reckoning, but there are many others who haven’t. Some people, understandably, simply don’t want to come forward, and as a result, those responsible get away with it.”
