Bluebird to pause Brand publishing as Tavistock Wood cuts ties

Pan Macmillan imprint Bluebird is to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand, following allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him in a Channel 4 "Dispatches" programme this weekend. Meanwhile Curtis Brown-owned literary and talent agency Tavistock Wood has "terminated all professional ties" to Brand.

An investigation by "Dispatches" in partnership with the Times and Sunday Times has seen four women make allegations of sexual mistreatment by Brand in the years between 2006 and 2013, when he was a presenter for Channel 4 and BBC2, and an actor in Hollywood. In a video released this weekend, Brand has said he "absolutely refutes" the allegations.

Having published a bestselling autobiography, My Booky Wook, with Hodder & Stoughton in 2007, and a book on politics with Century in 2014, Brand has been publishing titles with Pan Macmillan imprint Bluebird since 2017, beginning with Recovery: Freedom from our Addictions. A new title, Recovery: The Workbook, was scheduled for publication this December.

A statement from the publisher following the "Dispatches" broadcast said: "These are very serious allegations and in the light of them, Bluebird has taken the decision to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand."

The Times’ piece on the investigation said that one of the women abused by Brand approached his literary agent, Angharad Wood of Tavistock Wood, in 2020, with her allegation, but only heard back from Brand’s lawyer.

A statement in response from Tavistock Wood and its owner Curtis Brown said: "Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him. TW has terminated all professional ties to Brand."