Nish Kumar says young women have been advised to steer clear of dressing rooms used by ‘predators’ still working on the comedy scene.

The comedian also said the knowledge of Russell Brand‘s alleged abuse against young women was “a well-known open secret on the comedy circuit” and he thinks it’s likely “there’s more allegations to come”.

Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse and sexual misconduct by a number of women – claims he vehemently denies.

Speaking on his Pod Save The UK podcast, Kumar said: “This stuff is still happening, there are still people working in comedy who are the subject of open secrets.

“There are still people who work in comedy that we can’t name because again, of the threat of lawsuits. And there are still people working in comedy who people will say, ‘Oh, we don’t send young women into their dressing room’.”

The 38-year-old added: “Now at that stage for me, you should be sacked from that job. If you can’t have someone be around young women, they have no place in any kind of workplace.

“The tolerance of it is something that we are going to have to actually have a reckoning with.”

Russell Brand: All the companies that have cut ties with the comedian – from publisher to women’s charity

Russell Brand faces new allegations he ‘laughed’ on radio show after ‘exposing himself to woman’

‘No question’ more claims of abuse of power in entertainment industry to come – ITV chief

Kumar, who previously hosted The Mash Report and Late Night Mash – said he first heard about Brand’s alleged wrongdoings in mid-2017, and that “from that point onwards it was well known”.

He said it went on to be discussed by multiple comedians at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018.

However, he said the “very specific and serious allegation” against Brand that he had first been made aware of was not one that was discussed in the Channel 4 Dispatches programme which aired at the weekend.

For that reason, Kumar said he thinks “it is possible that there’s more allegations to come”.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

Pointing to Brand’s diminishing TV work in the UK after 2019, Kumar said: “That’s simply because increasingly people were just not willing to work with him. Everyone was afraid to talk about it because of the threat of lawsuits, you know?

“And so, the only power people had was to withdraw participation from shows involving Russell Brand.”

Abuse of power is an industry wide problem

He said as a comedian working in the industry, he too felt a sense of “guilt” and “complicity”.

Kumar said: “Watching it as a cisgendered, heterosexual male comedian, you feel a certain sense of guilt and a certain sense of complicity because you’ve been working with production companies and producers who are providing an infrastructure that allows predators to thrive.”

He said the “indulgence” of top talent was “an issue that cuts across all of the industries,” and which needed to be addressed.

Kumar concluded: “The only people to come out of this with anything approaching any credibility are the victims who have been brave enough to step forward and the journalists who have worked extremely hard to produce rigorous pieces of journalism so that they could get around the threats of a very powerful man’s lawyers.”

Read more:
The allegations in full
Stars’ past warnings resurface
From drug addict to controversial comedy star

Brand, 48, was initially accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse by four women with the alleged offences taking place between 2006 and 2013.

The comedian and presenter denies the claims, and says all his relationships have been consensual.

Following the report by the Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, two further women have come forward with allegations against Brand.

The Metropolitan Police says it has received an allegation of sexual assault against him dating back to 2003.

The BBC also says it is looking into allegations by a woman who claims Brand exposed himself to her and then laughed about it afterwards on his Radio 2 show.

In the wake of the claims, numerous companies have cut ties with Brand including his management company, a women’s charity and several of his YouTube sponsors.

Sky News has approached Russell Brand for comment.

Related posts:

Kate Moss revealed as new face of Kim Kardashian West’s shapewear brand SKIMS Soaps to make UK TV history with first crossover episodes to highlight climate change US surgeon general responds after Matthew McConaughey says he won’t vaccinate his children yet Arlo Parks and Dave among those leading MOBO nominations ahead of Coventry ceremony ‘Better go watch some movies’: Oscars reveals history-making line-up to host 2022 show Laurence Fox returns to Twitter after ban – and criticises comedian over tweet ‘A lot of the thrill is gone’: Woody Allen hints he could give up filmmaking in rare live interview – with Alec Baldwin Jungle Matt says winning campsite leader vote ‘more than makes up for’ losing to Boris Watch Gwyneth Paltrow in court over ski crash lawsuit Alec Baldwin begins filming Rust again – 18 months after the movie’s cinematographer was shot dead This Morning up for NTA, but Holly Willoughby snubbed in presenter category ‘I love you Lizzo!’: Beyoncé shouts out lawsuit-hit singer in latest performance