​​Russell Brand Accused of Raping, Sexually Assaulting Multiple Women Including 16-Year-Old

WARNING: Contains graphic details of alleged sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.

Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and physical and emotional abuse by five women — four who remained anonymous — including a 16-year-old, according to a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and U.K. current affairs show Channel 4 Dispatches.

The media outlets reported — in an article published by The Times on Saturday and during an episode of Dispatches on Saturday evening local time — that the incidents allegedly transpired between 2006 and 2013 when the comedian, 48, was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and a Hollywood film actor.

Brand denied the allegations in a video shared on social media on Friday, saying that he "absolutely refutes" the claims and describing them as "extremely egregious and aggressive attacks."

According toThe Times article, the first incident allegedly occurred in 2006 when Brand was 30 years old and worked as the host of Channel 4’s Big Brother’s Big Mouth and as a BBC radio presenter. The female accuser, who was 16 at the time, alleged that Brand immediately asked her on their first date to confirm her age, telling her, “I don’t give a f--- if you’re 12... I need to know where I stand legally.”

The unidentified woman also accused Brand of removing his condom during sex one time without her knowledge. Following his 31st birthday, she said that Brand sexually assaulted her when “he forced his penis down my throat,” per The Times.

“It was just choking me and I couldn’t breathe, and I was pushing him away and he wasn’t backing off at all,” said the woman, according to the outlet. “I ended up having to punch him really hard in the stomach to get him off. I was crying and he said, ‘Oh I only wanted to see your mascara run anyway.’”

She said Brand then “climbed on top of her, held open her mouth and drooled into it,” telling The Times, “I was gagging and trying to fight him off me, but he’s lying on top of me, so I can’t. My limbs are trapped underneath him.”

Describing what she was thinking at the time, she alleged that “he held my mouth shut and made me swallow it and so I was just gagging and crying.”

A second unidentified woman reportedly accused Brand of raping her against a wall in his Los Angeles home on July 1, 2012. She said that following her attempt to leave, he greeted her naked, kissed her against a wall and said “a friend” was already in the bedroom.

“I tried to get away from him and I slipped away from the wall. And then I went to another wall that had a painting on it. A huge painting. And my bag got actually stuck underneath that, and it’s still on my arm. And at this point he’s grabbing at my underwear, pulling it to the side,” she told The Times.

She said that she told Brand to “get off” even though she “couldn’t move” because she “was stuck underneath the painting and he’s pushing up against me.” She alleged that he then raped her without a condom.

She told The Times she went to the Rape Treatment Center (RTC) at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center later that day, and provided the outlet with a copy of her medical records that show “she provided her underwear and other samples as evidence, which were frozen.”

A third anonymous woman, who was a colleague, allegedly claimed that Brand sexually assaulted her in early 2013, telling The Times that he “grabbed me and got me on the bed” and proceeded to kiss her and remove her clothes while she was pinned down.

“I think he had his hands down my trousers but I was fighting so hard and I was screaming so hard, hoping that I could get through somehow,” she said, according to the outlet. “I don’t know what the actual definition of ‘sexual assault’ is, but it feels like that. He didn’t rape me.”

The woman said “she kept begging him to get off her and eventually he relented,” but he was “super angry” and fired her.

All three women also shared their accounts anonymously during the Saturday night Dispatches episode.

The Times also shared the account of Jordan Martin, Brand’s ex-girlfriend, who in her 2014 book, kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity accused him of sexually assaulting her and physically and emotionally abusing her during the six months they dated, marking the start of their relationship as February 2007. 

Martin was not interviewed for the investigation, but The Times reported that she had confirmed that her account in the book is accurate, and during the Dispatches episode on Saturday, the program included a line that stated, “Jordan didn’t want to take part in this film but stands by her allegations."  

Martin detailed the alleged sexual assault in her 2014 book, kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity. She wrote that Brand, who she renamed as Randall Grand, “slides his hand down the front of her low hanging jeans, into her underwear and forces a finger inside of her” while they were at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester, England.

Another woman, sharing her story anonymously, alleged to The Times and during the Dispatches episode that while working with Brand, he flashed his penis to her when she entered his dressing room.

Channel 4 said in a release shared with PEOPLE Saturday that “five women, four of whom asked to remain anonymous, agreed to share their stories of serious sexual allegations in the programme.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In his YouTube video refuting the claims, 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. Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.”

“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,” he began in the video. “But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”

Although Brand did not name the TV company or newspaper, his video came ahead of The Times article and the new special investigation episode of Dispatches.

As Brand's video continued, he said, “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.”

“I don’t mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous, consensual conduct in the past,” he continued. “What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations."

"Also, it's worth mentioning that there are witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct, apparently, in what seems to me to be a coordinated attack,” the actor added.

“Now, I don’t want to get into this any further, because of the serious nature of the allegations, but I feel like I’m being attacked and plainly they are working very closely together," he said.

Brand concluded, “We are obviously going to look into this matter because it's very, very, serious. In the meantime, I want you to stay close, stay awake, but more important than any of that, if you can, please stay free.”

Following the publication of the allegations on Saturday, Brand performed his Russell Brand Bipolarisation show at Troubadour Wembley Park in London.

Representatives for Brand did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for further comment.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.