When Russell Brand became a father, he admitted that his greatest fear was that his daughter might one day date someone like him.
For Rod Stewart and Bob Geldof, however, that unsettling possibility appeared to become reality after both of their daughters were linked to the comedian during the height of his fame.
Brand – who this week was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of rape and three counts of sexual assault – built a public image around his voracious sexual appetite, frequently making provocative jokes about his alleged conquests.
Kimberly Stewart became the subject of one such remark in 2006, when Brand took to the stage at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards and claimed he had slept with the socialite.
The joke prompted a furious response from her father, leaving Brand visibly shaken.
Brand, then 51, had just collected the Most Stylish award when he dedicated the honour to Stewart, saying: ‘Here’s to Rod Stewart, who had a go at me earlier this year for too much womanising… But then again, I did have a go on his daughter.’
Stewart, 81, waited until he was invited on stage a short time later before delivering a public rebuke.
As he accepted the award for Outstanding Musical Achievement, Stewart turned to Brand and said: ‘You went with my daughter, did you? Russell, stand up.’
Brand and Stewart at the 2006 GQ Men of the Year Awards
Brand and Geldof at the 2006 NME Awards, where they exchanged insults after Brand was linked to Geldof’s daughter Peaches, who was then 17
Brand appeared to lose his confidence and could be heard quietly replying: ‘I took her out for one evening.’
Stewart then demanded to know whether Brand had behaved himself. The former Big Brother host immediately retreated, insisting: ‘I never touched that girl.’
‘F****** right you didn’t,’ Stewart shot back. ‘You mustn’t come up here and boast. I speak here as a father.’
Brand reportedly tried to smooth things over after the ceremony, with the pair later seen speaking to each other.
Stewart subsequently told the Evening Standard: ‘He might be a bit of a player, but he shouldn’t boast. I never did. Russell’s been a bit timid since I had my say.’
It was not the only time Brand faced a public dressing-down from the father of a woman he had been linked to. Geldof had confronted him earlier that same year.
Brand had reportedly been involved with Geldof’s daughter Peaches, who was 17 at the time, although reports suggested the association was brief.
Neither of them confirmed that they had been in a relationship, and Peaches indicated that the connection had not progressed beyond flirting.
Brand nevertheless revived the speculation when he mocked Geldof at the NME Awards, where he was serving as host.
While introducing Geldof, who was collecting the Hero of the Year award, Brand made fun of his name by calling him ‘Sir Bobby Gandalf’.
Geldof stormed towards the stage, brushing past Brand before telling the crowd: ‘Russell Brand, what a c***.’
The Boomtown Rats frontman’s outburst drew laughter and applause, while Brand appeared visibly displeased.
Brand later reclaimed the microphone, congratulated Geldof and responded with an insult of his own.
‘Bob Geldof there, obviously an amazing man to whom we have a lot to be grateful, not in calling me a c***, of course,’ Brand said.
‘Really, it’s no surprise that he’s such an expert on famine. He has, after all, been dining out on I Don’t Like Mondays for 30 years,’ he added.
Kimberly Stewart was the target of one of Brand’s jokes at the 2006 GQ Men Of The Year Awards, when he claimed he had slept with the socialite
Brand had been linked to Geldof’s daughter Peaches, who was 17 at the time
Sharon Osbourne criticised Brand for targeting the relatives of women he had allegedly dated, speaking out in 2023 after he was first accused of rape and assault
Brand was later criticised by Geldof’s eldest daughter, Fifi, in 2015 after joking about drug use at a fundraising event for Focus 12, a charity specialising in addiction treatment.
Following the event, Fifi branded Brand an ‘unfunny b*****d’ and an ‘uber-douche extraordinaire’ for making light of addiction.
The fundraiser took place a year after Peaches died aged 25 from a heroin overdose. Her mother, Paula Yates, had died in similar circumstances in 2000.
Sharon Osbourne also condemned Brand for involving the families of women he had allegedly dated. She spoke about the issue in 2023, when he was first accused of rape and sexual assault.
Appearing on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show, she said: ‘The only thing I can say about Russell Brand, the two things I don’t like, was when he spoke about… one of them is a very good friend of ours, Kimberly Stewart, about what he had done to Kimberly Stewart in front of her father [Rod Stewart]. And then he did the same with Sir Bob Geldof.
‘You just don’t do that to people’s families when that father is in the room. He’s done it twice now, and that’s the thing that sticks with me.’
Her son Jack also discussed his family’s history with Brand during the interview, acknowledging how difficult it was to process allegations involving someone they had known for years.
‘We’ve all known Russell going on 20 years,’ he said, adding that the comedian had carried out some ‘vulgar, outrageous, crazy things’ in the past.
However, Jack stressed that personal familiarity did not rule out the possibility that someone could have committed serious wrongdoing.
Brand also became embroiled in a dispute involving the grandfather of another woman he had dated.
In 2008, Brand and Jonathan Ross left sexually explicit messages on actor Andrew Sachs’s answerphone about his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, with whom Brand had been involved.
Brand’s targets were not limited to celebrity fathers; the comedian also became embroiled in the Andrew Sachs scandal
In 2008, Brand and Jonathan Ross left sexually explicit messages on Sachs’s answerphone about his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, with whom Brand had been involved
Georgina Baillie, 41, said the scandal destroyed her relationship with her grandfather and contributed to her developing an addiction to drugs and alcohol
In one message, Ross shouted: ‘He f***** your granddaughter.’ In another, Brand told Sachs: ‘But it was consensual, and she wasn’t menstrual, it was consensual lovely sex. It was full of respect. I sent her a text. I’ve asked her to marry me, Andrew Sachs.’
The affair became known as Sachsgate, triggering a major broadcasting scandal. Brand resigned, while Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas and head of compliance Dave Barber also stepped down. Ross was suspended without pay for three months.
Ofcom, the media regulator, fined the BBC £150,000 and described the broadcast of the messages as ‘gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning’.
The episode also had a profound personal impact on Baillie, whose relationship with her grandfather broke down entirely.
She did not see or speak to Sachs for eight years. They met only once more, shortly before his death in 2016 at the age of 86, when she apologised for the scandal.
Baillie also said Sachsgate contributed to her developing an addiction to drugs and alcohol. She told the Daily Mail: ‘They [Brand and Ross] were slut-shaming.
‘It was bullying towards my grandfather. Regardless of whether I’m the biggest whore in the whole world, it doesn’t matter. It’s still bullying. It was an in-joke between the two of them, little idiots.’
Baillie said Brand later apologised for his behaviour and paid for her to attend rehabilitation in Staffordshire in 2018, where she spent six months.
Brand became a father in 2016, when he and his wife Laura Gallacher welcomed their daughter Mabel. The couple have since had another daughter, Peggy, and a son, now three.
Ahead of his 2017 comedy tour Re:Birth, which explored his experience of parenthood, Brand said: ‘What am I going to tell my daughter about conformity and responsibility? What happens if she grows up to be like me or, worse, dates someone like me?’
He also asked: ‘How do we make sense of the madness of our lives once we become parents?’
When asked whether becoming a father had changed how he viewed the world, Brand replied: ‘Do you know, in some ways I do. That’s a good observation. It’s a wonderful experience being a dad!’
Brand became a father in 2016 when he and Laura Gallacher welcomed daughter Mabel; they have since had another daughter and a son
Last week, Brand was convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.
He is now facing a further wave of allegations covering a decade, including claims that he ignored women’s requests to stop during sex and used his celebrity status to pursue young fans.
A new investigation by The Times and The Sunday Times reported that six additional women had come forward with allegations of sexual assault, coercive behaviour and humiliation involving the former Hollywood star.
The latest claims include an allegation that Brand had sex with a woman without her consent and later apologised. Another woman said he continued having sex with her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop because she was in pain.
A third woman alleged that Brand grabbed her by the throat and sexually assaulted her in a hotel room. A fourth claimed he tried to pull her into a disabled toilet at a London venue as recently as 2015.
The claims emerged after Brand was jailed for more than a decade for rape and sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court earlier this week.
The allegations have not been tested in court and could not previously be published because of concerns that they might prejudice the criminal proceedings against him.
Most of the six women first contacted journalists after The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches jointly investigated Brand in September 2023, prompting a Metropolitan Police investigation.