Andrew Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie has said Russell Brand ended up paying for her rehab after the infamous radio voicemail incident.
Back in 2008, Brand was involved in a scandal that cost him his job at BBC Radio 2, having left obscene messages for Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs via answerphone.
Fellow presenter Jonathan Ross was also suspended by the BBC for his part in the stunt, which saw the pair make graphic claims about Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie, who once had a sexual relationship with Brand.
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The comedian is now at the centre of serious allegations of sexual assault and rape, following a joint investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches, The Times and The Sunday Times.
In the wake of the documentary and articles being released on Saturday 16 September, Baillie has spoken out about the accusations in the context of her own experiences – including those controversial answerphone messages.
Speaking on TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored, she said: “I feel like he was different person during those times. He was young and stupid, as was I, and things would have been done differently now, I think.
"S**t-shaming was totally fine back then and so I was an easy target…
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“I want him to continue on his path of recovery and when he makes a mistake, make an amends, that's what we do.”
But Baillie said Brand went on to ‘make amends’ with her by paying for her to attend rehab.
“I was struggling with addiction for about 10- 15 years and I was finding it very hard to get clean and sober,” she recalled.
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“So one of my mutual friends between me and Russell called him up and said, ‘Georgie needs some help’, and so he sent me to rehab.
“And so I was physically separated from my drug of choice and I got some therapy and I think that had a big part to play in my recovery journey.
“He looked me in the eyes and he made his amends to me… he acknowledged it was a private relationship and it shouldn’t have been made public.
“At the time he had two daughters and it really made him grow and change and I felt it was genuine and I felt he was sorry.”
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When asked if she ‘recognised’ the person in the allegations that surfaced over the weekend, Baillie said she didn’t, before quickly adding: “But I’m not saying they are lies because you know, it was a long time ago.
“I think they should be believed and get some help. Because part of the recovery programme - you must make amends for these things. That’s what he did for me and hopefully he will do the same for the others.”
Baillie, who said she has been a survivor of sexual abuse herself, said she will ‘always believe victims’.
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"Why wouldn’t you?” she said, continuing: “Accusers? It depends, I wasn’t in the room, we don’t know what happened there.
“But my initial thought was, ‘Oh my god, I’m glad I’m not Russell.’ Because it’s behaviour he was doing when he wasn’t well.
“When you are an addict, you can cross-addict… you can be off booze and drugs but if you are not on a programme you can be acting out a sex addiction, or a food addiction. And he wasn’t working a programme and as an addict in recovery, I know he wasn’t well.”
Brand has denied the allegations from The Times, The Sunday Times and Dispatches.
Accusing the media of planning a coordinated attack against him in a pre-emptive YouTube video, he said: "Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor’s Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 500 2222 24/7. Alternatively, you can contact Victim Support free on 08 08 16 89 111 available 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas.
Topics: Celebrity, Russell Brand
Jess Hardiman