The BBC and Channel 4 have faced renewed criticism over their past backing of Russell Brand, who was jailed this week after being convicted of raping a fan in early 2009.
However, Brand also had another influential supporter at the time: ITV executive Alison Sharman, who became the broadcaster’s controller of factual and daytime programming in 2005.
Just as controller Lesley Douglas championed Brand and shielded him during his time at BBC Radio 2, sources say Sharman helped advance his career at ITV, where one source claimed he was “lionised”.
Sharman met Brand in 2006 at the Edinburgh Festival, which she chaired, and became an outspoken supporter of the comedian.
Brand appeared on Richard and Judy’s Book Club on ITV, one of Sharman’s programmes, and was booked several times in the years that followed on the daytime show Loose Women.
During a 2010 appearance on Loose Women, he claimed he had kissed Meghan Markle when she was working as an extra on the film Get Him To The Greek.
Images of Sharman and Brand, pictured alongside his agent John Noel, have disappeared from the internet this week.
The BBC and Channel 4 have faced criticism over their past support for Russell Brand, who was jailed this week after being convicted of raping a fan in early 2009. He is pictured hosting the BRIT Awards in 2007.
Sharman did not respond to requests for comment.
One source said: “Russell Brand was booked to address ITV’s senior management conference in January 2007 and will have been well paid to do so.
“He arrived very late and appeared to be as high as a kite. He then delivered a speech that was absolutely vile about women and having sex with them.
“ITV had previously hosted top businessmen as speakers. People were asking themselves, ‘What has become of this company, that our senior executives are sitting here listening to this drivel?’”
The source continued: “Some people walked out rather than listen to this foul stream of misogyny.
“Afterwards, Michael Grade, ITV’s newly appointed executive chairman, was heard saying that he could not believe Brand had been booked.
“What I could not understand was why, even after that, he continued to be booked for television appearances.”
A second source said some ITV executives had wanted Brand to host the BRIT Awards in 2006. But Claudia Rosencrantz, then the broadcaster’s controller of entertainment, vetoed the idea, describing him as “utterly gross and repellent”.
After Rosencrantz left ITV, Brand was given the presenting role the following year and hosted the ceremony in 2007.
Paul Jackson was ITV’s controller of entertainment at that time.
Brand’s career was also advanced by his agent John Noel, who signed him while he was still working at MTV and helped move him into the mainstream.
Noel also supervised Brand’s treatment for heroin addiction in 2002, followed later by a period in residential care for sex addiction.
On Monday, Brand was sentenced to 10½ years in prison after being found guilty of one count of rape and three sexual assaults.
During sentencing, Judge Joel Bennathan said the evidence showed that, at the height of Brand’s fame, members of his entourage had “indulged your dreadful behaviour”.
Harper channels some of Mum’s girl power
Could it be third time lucky for Harper Beckham? The teenager has chosen another name, her third, for her skincare range, which has yet to launch and will now be called “Girl Skin”.
Documents filed by Project Seven US Inc, the Beckham company overseeing the venture, show that the name was submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office at the end of last week.
Harper’s first choice was Hiku by Harper, followed by Harlo by Harper. Both names ran into difficulties with the USPTO.
Harlo by Harper was rejected in October after the office concluded it could be confused with an existing company called Harlo, which sells nutritional supplements.
Harper Beckham has chosen a third name for her skincare line, which has yet to launch and will now be called “Girl Skin”.
Meanwhile, Victoria Beckham’s UK trademarks covering the names of all four of her children are due to expire on December 22.
I understand that she does not plan to renew the trademarks, which were registered for 10 years.
When the registrations were made, all four children were minors. Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz are now adults, while Brooklyn has publicly fallen out with his family and is no longer involved with Brand Beckham.
I revealed in October that Victoria is investing $3 million in the launch of her daughter’s skincare business.
The figure appeared in the first accounts filed by H7B Ltd. The company takes its name from Harper’s initials and the number seven, reflecting her middle name, Seven. It was established in October 2024, when Harper was 13.
The brand is expected to launch in the second half of next year, probably after Harper takes her GCSE exams in May and June. She turns 16 in July.
Girl Skin is expected to include cleanser, toner, moisturiser and lip balm.
Scrooge you! Depp snubs Press again
Bah humbug! Johnny Depp’s promotional tour for Ebenezer, his return to studio filmmaking, suffered a setback when the actor pulled out of several planned interviews at the last minute.
Depp, 63, has long had a difficult relationship with the Press and has a history of abandoning media commitments.
In 2024, he was criticised by the international Press corps after arriving two hours late for interviews at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
This time, the cancelled engagement was an interview intended for the Japanese market, the only one scheduled for that territory.
I was told: “He simply cancelled, and even the distributor felt bad about it. He has learned nothing.”
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Friends of the actor initially denied that there had been a problem, before acknowledging that an interview had indeed been cancelled.
They maintained, however, that Depp had completed a demanding promotional schedule across three countries for Ebenezer, the latest adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
The film is released today, with audiences waiting to see whether the actor, once among the world’s most bankable stars, remains a box-office draw.
Johnny Depp’s promotional tour for Ebenezer, his return to studio filmmaking, suffered a setback when he pulled out of planned interviews at the last minute.
My colleague Brian Viner was unconvinced, awarding the festive feature, which also stars Sir Ian McKellen and Rupert Grint, two stars.
Depp nevertheless appeared delighted to be back in the spotlight. At this week’s London premiere, he told the crowd: “There’s no way for me to explain how I feel. It’s deep. These are the people who’ve supported me through thick and thin and I owe them.”
His gratitude did not appear to extend to the after-party guests. A source said the “sulky” actor refused to attend the event.
Depp largely withdrew from public life after the highly contentious end of his marriage to actress Amber Heard and two libel trials, one of which he lost and the other he largely won.
He appeared in the French film Jeanne du Barry in 2023 and directed the independent film Modi, released last year.
Ebenezer marks his return to mainstream cinema. It could be followed by a reprise of his best-known role, Captain Jack Sparrow, in a planned new film from that franchise.
At the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Depp made his hostility towards the Press clear, comparing those who would cancel him to a “tower of mashed potatoes covered in light from a computer screen”.
He added: “It’s almost like I need to come back and do a tap dance for you guys, and hope you approve… the notion of that is some kind of bizarre mystery.”
Cannes is “pro-film, but anti-American”
Director James Gray is far from impressed.
While promoting his new film Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, and generally well received, Gray delivered a sharp assessment of the Cannes Film Festival. His criticism was aimed at the jury rather than the audience.
“The festival itself loves me,” the filmmaker, pictured right, said. “They love the movies, they love me, and much of the critical establishment in that country has been very welcoming towards the work.
“But the festival is not really designed for me, and it is not really designed for Americans.”
Director James Gray criticised the Cannes Film Festival, saying: “The festival is not really built for me, and it’s not really built for Americans.”
“What many ordinary people, including critics who are not French, do not understand is that Americans do not win prizes at Cannes.
“When Americans head the juries, Americans win prizes. If it’s Herfeldizabilazuv, you’re not going to get jack***.”
As might be expected, Paper Tiger did not receive an award this year.
Sticking with unhappy directors, we have already noted the poor performance of Taika Waititi’s film Klara and the Sun, as well as his response to reviewers, whom he described as “sad lost souls who couldn’t achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus became critics”.
Now it has emerged that the film averaged just $17 per cinema across 880 US venues on one particularly poor day last week, before being withdrawn on Tuesday.
The film reportedly cost about $30 million to make.
No personality? No problem for Bettany and his Vision
Paul Bettany says he was offered the role of Vision in the Marvel films because director Jon Favreau believed he had “no personality”.
Bettany said: “There wasn’t an audition. There was a phone call from the director, whom I had worked with as an actor on Wimbledon.
“He said, ‘Hey Paul, so I’ve got this voice that’s inside Tony Stark’s suit and I need an actor with no personality whatsoever. I immediately thought of you.’”
The 55-year-old British actor said he replied to Favreau: “Well, seeing as you’ve asked so nicely, I’ll say yes.”
Bettany reprises the character in the new VisionQuest series, which is now streaming on Disney+.
Jacob Elordi is reportedly out of the running to become the next 007.
The Australian actor has just begun work on a new film, Scapegoat, which will keep him occupied as Amazon hopes to begin production on the next James Bond movie.
The other leading contenders, Callum Turner, Jack Lowden and Josh O’Connor, are available over the coming months.
O’Connor is currently filming Three Incestuous Sisters with Lowden’s wife, Saoirse Ronan.
That production is expected to finish soon, keeping O’Connor firmly in contention.
Jacob Elordi has started work on the new film Scapegoat, keeping him busy as Amazon hopes to begin production on the next James Bond movie.
Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist Of The Year is usually considered a safe space, having completed 13 series without major controversy.
But after the programme introduced three new judges, a minor drama has erupted. Fans reacted angrily when contestant Rafaela de Ascanio won last week’s heat with a portrait of Rylan Clark, pictured right, which some viewers compared to a cartoon.
Following the backlash, the programme posted “a little reminder” on Instagram: “Behind every portrait are real people who have put themselves out there. Please be kind.”
Viewers reacted angrily after Rafaela de Ascanio won last week’s heat with a portrait of Rylan Clark, pictured, which some compared to a cartoon.
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