Comedian Claims She Wasn’t Allowed to Make Jokes About Disgraced Famous Comedian During Roast

One British comedian spoke out about her experience on Comedy Central’s Roast Battle U.K.

In Katherine Ryan’s new stand-up special, Katherine Ryan: First Born Daughter, she confirmed that she attempted to flame her Roast Battle co-star Russell Brand for his alleged mistreatment and abuse of women, but Paramount stopped her from doing so. (Her, Brand, and comedian Jimmy Carr judged the series.) She does not mention him by name, but makes it very obvious that Brand is who she was talking about.

“I was invited on a panel show, and I was so excited to do it, but then I found out that if I went on, I would be sat next to a man whom I firmly believe, but can’t prove to be a c—. And that’s the lawyer’s choice of words, not mine,” she said. “Initially, I turned the job down, and then I thought: well, he’ll be there in his unnecessarily tight jeans, won’t he? He’ll be there, finger-banging Tucker Carlson or sucking off a Tibetan monk for views, whatever he does now … I thought I will go on the show, and I made a moral decision.”

She decided she would confront him over the allegations “but in a fun way,” on the series in 2018, until Brand “had a hissy fit and threatened to quit the show,” so the channel told her to “be nice.”

“The channel got upset. They didn’t want him to leave, and they issued him a new contract, which he waltzed into my dressing room and threw under my nose the next day,” she said. “He said: ‘Look, you’re not allowed to be mean to me anymore, because I don’t consent.’”

In 2023, it was previously revealed that Brand quit the show after he was repeatedly roasted on camera for being a “sexual predator” by contestants.

This past May, Brand was charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual assault in the U.K., which he pleaded not guilty to and will stand trial for in 2026. Earlier this month, he was charged with even more charges of rape and sexual assault.