Russell Brand’s career focus of new Netflix documentary after comedian jailed

Russell Brand will be the subject of a new Netflix documentary charting his rise to international fame and his dramatic fall from grace, after he was jailed for 10 and a half years for rape and sexual assault.

The 51-year-old comic was convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others during his career, and has been accused of abusing his celebrity status to prey on women.

A new documentary film, Russell Brand: Open Secret, uses insiders’ voices and delves into archive footage to offer an insight into the downfall of the television star.

(Courtesy of Netflix)

It will also explore the Dispatches investigation for Channel 4 in September 2023, alongside The Times and Sunday Times, which led to the women coming forward to complain and ultimately the four convictions against Brand.

The documentary has been directed by Olivia Isaacs and produced by 72 Films, the company behind Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, which examined how the disgraced entertainer was “hiding in plain sight” for so long.

It will chart Brand’s meteoric rise to fame, from the start of his career as a TV presenter and comedian to his eventual emergence as a Hollywood star appearing in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hop and the Despicable Me franchise.

Over his two-decade career, he also cemented his status in the spotlight through his marriage to singer Katy Perry, and his subsequent appearances on TV, radio, stage, and podcasts.

Russell Brand: Open Secret will also examine how he eventually became a “political activist and YouTuber known for spouting conspiracy theories” in the early 2020s.

Russell Brand in Russell Brand: Open Secret. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026

It will then follow his criminal trial at Southwark Crown Court, where he was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault against four victims.

He is expected to serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before being released on licence, and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Separately, fellow comedian David Walliams was named as part of an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News the day after Brand was jailed.

The best-selling author and former Britain’s Got Talent judge has been accused of sexual misconduct and abusing his power to groom teenagers as young as 15, but denies any wrongdoing.

Brand’s conviction and the media furore surrounding his peer Walliams have since sparked discussion about the procedures in the TV industry for people to raise safeguarding issues.

Russell Brand: Open Secret will be available to stream on Netflix on November 13.