GB News hosts clash over Russell Brand allegations
Andrew Pierce scolded his colleague Beverley Turner live on air after the GB News host called Russell Brand a “hero” online.
Following a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, the broadcaster released an hour-and-a-half special looking at the comedian’s alleged treatment of women.
During the documentary, the 48-year-old was accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse.
However, ahead of the special airing, he took to social media to release a video strongly denying the allegations and claimed he was being “attacked”.
Commenting on his video, GB News’ Beverley called Russell a “hero” as she encouraged him to “keep going”.
READ MORE Coronation Street’s Courtney Vance star teases new relationship
However, her colleague Andrew was furious at Beverley’s support during their discussion on the revelations on Monday’s instalment of GB News.
Speaking about her tweet, he fumed live on air: “Bev, that is shameful. That is shameful. That is shameful.”
Andrew told Beverley she should establish whether or not the serious allegations being made against Russell were true before calling him a hero.
Defending her tweet, Beverley added: “Before I had tweeted that, I had spoken to several sources close to Brand, close to The Times, close to The Sun.
Don’t miss…
Educating Yorkshire star unrecognisable as he recalls emotional TV moment[IMAGE]
Bobby Brazier dodges Strictly Come Dancing romance probe in awkward interview[STRICTLY]
Meghan Markle’s dad says it’s ‘cruel’ not being able to see his grandchildren[ROYAL]
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
“I was confident that there was no smoking gun in this regard, I remain confident having watched the Dispatches.”
After the heated exchange between the pair, Beverley took to Twitter to reveal she didn’t know Andrew would be addressing her support for the comedian.
Tweeting the video alongside an article link, she wrote: “I didn’t know that my co-host was going to do this today. I knew we’d be discussing this topic of #RussellBrand of course, but I wasn’t prepared for the personal onslaught which is why I look caught off-guard.
“To fully understand my position which is difficult to articulate under these [sic] sort of circumstances, please read this piece that I wrote. Thanks.”
READ MORE BBC axes Russell Brand content from iPlayer for ‘falling below expectations’
In Russell’s video denying the allegations ahead of the documentary airing on Channel 4, he said: “I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter, and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, as well as some pretty stupid stuff like, my community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel, but amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.
“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: “Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I’m being transparent about it now as well, and to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question, is there another agenda at play?”
Read his full statement here.
In a statement on Saturday night, Channel 4 said: “Channel 4 is appalled to learn of these deeply troubling allegations, including behaviour alleged to have taken place on programmes made for Channel 4 between 2004 and 2007.
“We are determined to understand the full nature of what went on. We have carried out extensive document searches and have found no evidence to suggest the alleged incidents were brought to the attention of Channel 4. We will continue to review this in light of any further information we receive, including the accounts of those affected individuals.
“We will be asking the production company who produced the programmes for Channel 4 to investigate these allegations and report their findings properly and satisfactorily to us.
“In the many years since the alleged incidents took place, there has obviously been extensive change in Channel 4’s management and commissioning teams. Today, Channel 4 has a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviour and has a robust Code of Conduct. We require all suppliers to have in place rigorous safeguarding policies and provide whistleblowing support, including Channel 4’s Speak Up facility.
“We are committed to ensuring our industry has safe, inclusive and professional working environments.”
GB News airs daily from 6am on Freeview and Sky.
Source: Read Full Article
