This is the disturbing moment Russell Brand joked with Noel Fielding about being rapists in front of Lily Allen during a television show — an exchange she later described as “really horrendous”.
The uncomfortable clip has resurfaced after Brand, 51, was convicted of one count of rape and three sexual assaults.
The actor and comedian now faces the prospect of years in prison after the guilty verdict was delivered on Thursday.
The minute-long footage comes from Channel 4’s Big Fat Quiz of the Year in 2007. Host Jimmy Carr introduces Rob Brydon, David Mitchell, Jonathan Ross, Noel Fielding and Brand, alongside Allen, the show’s only female guest.
Ross looks towards Brand and Fielding before telling Carr: “I’m a bit concerned because look where you’ve put us.
“You’ve put the only sexually attractive young lady — well, the only young lady full stop, she happens to be very attractive as well — near two of the best known c***smen of the business.”
“I’m going to insist as a sort of uncle figure in Lily’s life that she moves over there because obviously that’s the sexless zone,” Ross continues, gesturing towards Brydon and Mitchell.
“And then, Lily might go home with her dress still on.”
Lily Allen grimaced during the uncomfortable Channel 4 exchange in which Russell Brand and Noel Fielding joked about being rapists
Allen later described the moment as “really horrendous”, saying she remained silent because of the “culture” at the time
Fielding responds: “How dare you? We’re not rapists,” prompting laughter from the audience.
Carr then asks the comedian why he is wearing a cape if he is not a rapist.
“It’s a Jack the Ripper cape. He wasn’t a rapist, he was just…” Fielding begins, before Brand adds: “A serial murderer. There is no direct corollary between capes and rape. It’s just a rhyme. Leave him alone.”
Brand continues: “What if, horror of horrors, he ain’t even done a rape. You could ruin his reputation.”
As the audience continues laughing, Brand asks Fielding: “Have you done a rape?”
Fielding pulls his cape over his face and replies: “Well, if I have, I’d be leaving the scene of the crime like this.”
Throughout the exchange, Allen appears uncomfortable. She looks down at her hands and grimaces as the comments are made.
Hi, I’m Alex Matthews, Editor of The Crime Desk.
Russell Brand has been found guilty of rape and three sexual assaults, while our reporters Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull were in court each day to follow the case. They spoke with Detective Inspector Laura Nelson, who explained why the women who accused Brand in the documentary were not involved in his rape trial.
In 2023, Allen revisited the footage and called the exchange “really horrendous”, explaining that she had stayed quiet because of the “culture” at the time.
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Speaking to Grazia UK, she said she knew the clip had resurfaced, “where I was on a chat show with Russell Brand and Noel Fielding and Jonathan Ross. And there are comments, I think, about me being raped or something.”
Allen added: “And I laugh along with it. In retrospect, that’s really horrendous. It makes me uncomfortable, but I don’t think I felt that at the time, because it was the culture.”
Although Brand has now been convicted of rape and sexual assault, there is no suggestion that Fielding has faced similar allegations.
Brand and Ross were later involved in a separate controversy after leaving obscene messages for the grandfather of actress Georgina Baillie, who was dating Brand at the time.
The incident became known as “Sachsgate”. While recording a BBC Radio 2 programme, the pair prank-called the late Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in the hit 1970s comedy Fawlty Towers. Ross left a voicemail saying: “He f***** your granddaughter.”
The prank triggered widespread outrage, including criticism from then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Fielding and Brand were also established comedy collaborators and friends during the 2000s and 2010s, with Fielding frequently referring to the now-disgraced comedian in interviews.
In 2016, he appeared to allude to Brand’s behaviour when asked in a BBC interview whether he would consider touring with him.
He replied: “I’m game if Russell is. I think a Goth Detectives tour could be fun. A sort of Agatha Christie ‘who done it’.”
“Someone would get murdered (not for real) and then we would look for the murderer. I’d hunt for clues while Russell seduced the first four rows of the venue (he’s trying to cut down).”
The interview was accompanied by a photograph of the pair on Instagram, but the image has since been removed.
Fielding mentioned Brand again during an appearance on Lorraine Kelly’s ITV1 chat show, revealing that they had “occasionally” meditated together.
Noel Fielding and Russell Brand, pictured together in 2012, were known as collaborators and friends
The Channel 4 clip has resurfaced alongside another video in which Brand joked about raping a woman.
In the now-deleted YouTube clip, recorded for Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013, Brand described himself as a “mundane bloke… from a single-parent family” who became a “pretty comprehensive show-off”.
Herring and the audience then burst into laughter when Brand broke the silence by saying: “Oh I’ve raped someone once” and “killed her after”.
In the same recording, he joked about the ancient Greeks having sex with children while developing mathematics, saying: “They didn’t mind it did they. They were clever weren’t they.”
He then mimed having sex and said: “I’ve done another triangle. I’m f***ing a little kid. This is great. F**k the kid with the triangle. No that’s too much.”
Brand also joked about adults, including babysitters, performing sexual acts in front of children, including him.
In the deleted interview with fellow comedian Herring, Brand, who also described himself as a “sex narcissist”, said: “Look at the women in this room. Even a bold estimate would be that I’ve slept with half of them. Currently.”
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that investigations remain ongoing into two rape allegations made against Brand. Its chief, Sir Mark Rowley, said he would not be surprised if “many more” alleged victims came forward.