Katharine McPhee has spoken out after an old clip of her with Russell Brand resurfaced amid allegations of rape and sexual assault against him.
Several women have accused the St Trinian’s actor, 48, of inappropriate behaviour, with investigations currently underway from the Metropolitan Police, the BBC, and Channel 4.
Brand denies the accusations, claiming any sexual encounters over the seven-year period in question were ‘consensual’.
But more women are coming forward, with old interviews and TV appearances also being dug up and circulating online.
One of these is a clip with US singer McPhee, 39, who appeared on The Tonight Show in 2013 alongside Brand.
Host Jimmy Fallon appeared shocked as the comedian grabbed McPhee and started bouncing her on his lap.
Viewers also noted that she looked uncomfortable.
The clip has since been shared on Instagram, with McPhee taking to the comments to insist the act was actually ‘harmless’.
‘I know nothing what you are trying to claim here but this specific incident was over 10 years ago and it was harmless,’ she wrote.
‘Please don’t try and use me for whatever purpose you are trying to serve.’
At the time, Brand tried to flirt with McPhee, telling her as she walked out: ‘You’re beautiful.’
McPhee then spoke in her interview with Fallon about the Super Bowl and ‘exchanging numbers’ with the family of football coach Jim Harbaugh, who are fans of hers.
As Brand sat next to her listening, Fallon noted: ‘Russell, are you thinking about something?’
‘Yeah, as a matter of fact, I was thinking about something,’ he replied.
‘As you know, I’ve announced it, I find Katharine very attractive, but when she said exchange numbers, I thought of things I’d like to exchange with her.’
The studio audience laughed and McPhee started to giggle.
‘Numbers!’, Brand insisted, before adding: ‘And genes.’
Later in the interview, McPhee casually dropped in that she had a husband as a reminder to Brand, as she was married to Nick Cokas at the time.
‘You could drop that guy any day,’ he told her.
‘I’m only joking, you should never destroy a marriage unless you’re really bored,’ he added.
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Before walking off, Brand told McPhee: ‘I didn’t know you were married, I’m gonna f**k off now! Have a lovely marriage!’
McPhee’s mouth was agape at his comments, as presenter Fallon hit behind his paper laughing and stuttering through his questions.
The resurfaced clip on YouTube comes as Brand’s own channel has been demonetised by the platform.
This morning, YouTube suspended Brand from monetising his video content for ‘violating Creator Responsibility policy’ after the ‘serious allegations.’
The Google-owned company said in a statement: ‘We have suspended monetisation on Russell Brand’s channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy.
‘If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.’
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The decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by the star, it added.
Meanwhile, the Met are looking into a report they received of an alleged sexual assault from 2003 in Soho, London.
Brand – who performed a sold-out show at Wembley over the weekend, ahead of the premiere of Channel 4’s Dispatches special – is yet to issue a statement as allegations rage on.
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