This story contains allegations of rape and sexual assault.
A joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in the UK has revealed allegations of against comedian and actor Russell Brand.
According to The Times' article, the alleged assaults occurred between 2006 and 2013 at "the height of [Brand's] fame". Brand denies the allegations.
London's Metropolitan Police it had received an allegation of sexual assault, following the media reports. The reported assault is alleged to have taken place in 2003 in central London.
On Wednesday, Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported that Brand was supposed to be performing in shows across Australia next February as part of the Wanderlust Festival. His festival appearance was due to be announced next week but has now been cancelled, according to the publication.
It reported that Wanderlust CEO Charlotte Hill said in a statement: "due to circumstances that have recently come to light, Wanderlust and Russell Brand have agreed that Mr Brand will not be appearing at the Wanderlust Festival."
In 2010, Brand was interviewed by Fifi Box for the Channel 7 show Sunrise. A clip of the interview, which was posted on YouTube but not broadcast according to the video's caption, shows Brand making an explicit joke about Box and later climbing into her lap.
At one point in the video when Box laughed, Brand said: "When you laugh like that, it makes me know what you would sound like when you [orgasm]. And I like it".
Brand later stood and asked: "Do you want me to come over to you?" Box, who was laughing, replied: "No, no, it's okay". Brand then sat on her lap, hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
Box says Brand is "very handsome".
"And you're engaged, and I'm aware of that and she's a beautiful woman, " she said.
Brand says: "She's lovely, isn't she. This is alright though, I'm allowed to sit on people's laps."
Later, while holding her, Brand said: "I'm just releasing the spores. There you go. Fifi Box is pregnant now" before kissing her on the cheek again.
In the clip, Box repeatedly fans herself, and says: "that's lovely, that was so lovely".
In a 2015 Q&A with news.com.au, Box described interviewing Brand as a "very strange encounter" and said: "by the end of the interview he was straddling me, grinding me inappropriately and trying to kiss me".
The Feed has contacted Fifi Box for comment.
Fifi Box and Russell Brand pictured together in 2011. Source: AAP / AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
Ahead of the publication of the Times investigation, Brand released a video denying the "very serious criminal allegations" that he said were about to be made against him.
"Amidst this litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute," he said in the video clip posted online. Brand said: "these allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous."
He added that "during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual".
Thirteen years on, would this behaviour be seen as acceptable if it was filmed and shared today?
Professor Catharine Lumby is a professor of media at the University of Sydney and a former journalist. She told The Feed that we still live in a "highly gendered, patriarchal society". She also believes this sort of behaviour is still happening today.
"I think there is a persona that some men get away with. It's kind of jokey, rogueish, 'Oh, I'm just having fun here'," she said.
"But no, it's not okay."
She pointed out there is still a "huge issue" of sexual harassment and assault in society.
"There are men who think they can take advantage of their power and men who are celebrities are particularly well-placed to do that," she said.
One crucial development in the entertainment industry has been the #MeToo movement, which helped expose allegations of sexual abuse against Hollywood producer and now-convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.
Lumby sees the #MeToo movement as a "new wave of women's liberation". A key difference, she says, is how social media has allowed women to speak about these issues collectively.
"In the seventies and eighties, we told our stories in single file. We told them to friends, we told them to police, we told them to counsellors. Sometimes we went through the trauma of going through the court - which by the way, our courts are still not fit for purpose when it comes to justice on these issues," she said.
However, despite the wins of the #MeToo movement, sexual violence is still rife.
"It's a cultural reckoning we're going through, but unfortunately we are still living in a society where there is epidemic domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment."
Brand is facing further claims after more women have come forward with allegations. "Several women" are said to have contacted The Times and The Sunday Times in the wake of the joint investigation with Channel 4 Dispatches. The Times said on Monday that the new allegations had not yet been investigated, and will now "be rigorously checked".
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit . In an emergency, call 000.
