Los Angeles, Sep 23 (IANS): Actor-comedian Russell Brand has made his first public comments since he was sentenced for rape and sexual harassment, with five women hurling accusations of “sexual assaults and emotional abuse”. The actor said that it has been an incredibly distressing week.

In a video posted to his official YouTube channel September 22 afternoon (Pacific Standard Time), Brand did not directly acknowledge the details of the accusations, but instead alluded to them with an opening statement.

He says in the video, “Hello there, you awakening wonders. Obviously, it’s been an extraordinary and distressing week, and I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that you’ve been presented with.”

Brand continued from there by noting what he was planning to discuss on his YouTube channel in the coming week, with topics including the pharmaceutical industry and media censorship, as reported by 'Variety'.

“You’re probably aware that the British government has asked big tech platforms to censor our online content and some online platforms have complied with that request,” he says.

The video, which was titled “So…,” where he made a vague acknowledgement of the unfavorable spotlight that Brand now finds himself under. He also implored his viewers to follow him on the online video platform Rumble.

“Keep me and our channel independent. I need your support, now more than ever. More than I imagined, I would,” Brand concludes. “More important than any of that is that you please, if you can, stay free.”

Brand issued a preemptive response to the allegations against him, one day before The Sunday Times published its report. In that video, titled “So, This Is Happening,” Brand stated that he “absolutely refutes” the “astonishing, rather baroque attacks” against him, though he did not go into extensive detail on the accusations against him at the time.

Since the article, Brand’s live tour has been postponed and his publishing deal with Pan Macmillan imprint Bluebird was suspended. The BBC has also removed some previous programs that featured Brand from digital services, saying that the content “falls below public expectations.”