TV execs ‘will be feeling nervous’ about Russell Brand NDAs, says ex-Weinstein assistant - The Independent

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TV executives and media companies will be “feeling nervous” following the conviction of Russell Brand, said Harvey Weinstein’s ex-assistant and whistleblower Zelda Perkins.

Perkins was pivotal in the conviction of the disgraced movie mogul as the first woman to break an NDA in 2017, signed decades earlier, with Weinstein. She has since been campaigning against the systematic abuse of NDAs used to silence victims or witnesses of harassment, discrimination, or crime.

During an appearance on the News Agents podcast, Perkins spoke about NDAs in the context of Brand’s recent conviction.

Following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, Brand, 51, was sentenced this week to 10 years and six months in prison after being convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

Perkins revealed that she has been in contact with “several women” who are being held under NDAs in relation to the case and “who will never be able to speak about what’s happened to them, because it’s not a criminal offence what’s happened to them”.

She went on to stipulate that these NDAs were taken out by both Brand himself and media companies.

Responding to one of the podcast hosts who argued that surely it is “incumbent upon” these media companies to “release anyone from an NDA in the case of someone who is now a convicted rapist”, Perkins said: “There are managers, and execs and companies who will be feeling quite nervous at the moment – and my suggestion to them would be to dissolve these NDAs.”

“It is in their power to do so,” said Perkins. “But if the victim does not want to be identified – that's sometimes where there is a bit of a rub, because the victim may not want to be identified – I would suggest that it was something that is done privately and that the victim has the option to negotiate that their identity was protected.

“But [so that if] they wanted to speak to their family, their friends, they wanted to be able to explain their own behaviours in a new job, or go to a therapist, they would be able to do that.”

Brand has worked with numerous media companies across his career, including MTV, where he began his career in television in 2000 as a video journalist; Channel 4, where he presented shows including Big Brother’s Big Mouth; and the BBC, where he presented programmes across the broadcaster’s radio channels.

His film career, meanwhile, in films such as Get Him To The Greek (2010) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), has seen him work with Universal Pictures.

Elsewhere during the podcast, Perkins said that people are increasingly feeling able to “speak up” about harassment or abuse they have witnessed, with the legal sector also “very good at moving forward”.

“The employment rights act is upping the protections around employees – something that will be very key around media cases, since most people are freelance,” she said. “The majority of people who have come forward, certainly about Russell Brand, will have been freelance workers.”

Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on Monday (9 November) after he was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of raping a woman in 2009, as well as sexually assaulting female TV and radio workers between 2004 and 2009.

His victims told the court he had forced them into sexual activity, sometimes within seconds of their first meeting, using his immense fame to pursue a goal of sex with 5,000 women.

In the wake of his convictions, the Metropolitan Police revealed that more allegations against the former TV and radio host are being investigated – including the alleged rape of a 16-year-old schoolgirl.

Separately, comedian Lucy Beaumont recently revealed that she offered to pay the legal fees for a woman who allegedly signed an NDA relating to David Walliams, who has been accused of grooming, sexual assault and a pattern of inappropriate behaviour towards women and girls as young as 15, in an investigation by The Guardian and ITV. He has denied any wrongdoing.

“I offered to pay legal fees to try and get her some protection,” Beaumont said, adding that the woman had declined her offer of support.