Comic Russell Logo has been accused of rape and sexual attack by means of 4 girls who element incidents that came about over seven years, in keeping with an investigation by means of the United Kingdom’s Sunday Occasions, the Occasions, and Channel 4’s Dispatches. Logo denied all allegations in a social media video he posted on Saturday, throughout which he claimed that those encounters had been consensual.
Logo is the newest high-profile determine to stand such allegations as increasingly more other folks have spoken out about sexual abuse following the upward thrust of the Me Too motion, which shined a gentle on sexual misconduct by means of tough folks, together with movie manufacturer Harvey Weinstein. Following the discharge of the investigation, further other folks have come ahead with undisclosed allegations about Logo, claims the Occasions has mentioned they’re running to make sure.
Within the authentic file, the 3 publications documented one allegation of rape and 3 allegations of sexual attack in opposition to Logo. Those incidents allegedly came about between 2006 and 2013, and befell whilst he was once running for the BBC, on Channel 4, and in several movies as an actor. The BBC and Channel 4 have since mentioned they are going to be accomplishing inner investigations.
Traditionally, Logo has been recognized for embracing a hedonistic, dirtbag personality as each a comic and an actor. He’s most likely maximum related to starring in movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, previously being married to pop big name Katy Perry, and acting candid standup comedy during which he spoke about his drug habit and sexual promiscuity.
The allegations and extra context supplied within the investigation underscore what seems to be a trend of sexual misconduct by means of Logo in addition to ordinary abuses of energy in his position as a media character and comic. The file additionally comes at a second during which the long-lasting results of the #MeToo motion are obtrusive, as is the backlash it faces.
The allegations in opposition to Logo, in short defined
There have been 4 allegations within the preliminary file, which makes use of pseudonyms for all 4 girls to offer protection to their privateness.
Nadia, a girl who have been intimate with Logo, describes being raped by means of him in his house after rejecting his ideas of a threesome. She was once handled by means of a rape disaster heart following the alleged assault however declined to report a police file on the time because of considerations about her popularity and the backlash she may face. Nadia supplied newshounds with screenshots of textual content messages written after the incident, throughout which she wrote “when a lady says no, it manner no,” and Logo spoke back that he was once “very sorry.” Investigators additionally reviewed her clinical data from the disaster heart and next counseling classes to corroborate her account.
Alice was once 16, the age of consent in the United Kingdom, when she dated Logo, who was once 31 on the time, and says that he as soon as pressured his penis down her throat.
Alice mentioned that she dated Logo for 3 months, throughout which she alleges that he “groomed” her and informed her body the connection to her folks. In a single sexual come across on the finish in their courting, Alice mentioned Logo sexually assaulted her when he shoved his penis in her mouth, whilst she was once pushing him away. She says she needed to punch him within the abdomen to get him off of her.
Phoebe had up to now had a sexual courting with Logo, and described a sexual attack that befell after it had ended. She says that she was once running on a undertaking at Logo’s space, throughout which he got rid of his garments, pinned her down on his mattress, and put his hand down her pants as she screamed for him to get off of her. She additionally says she encountered other folks out of doors Logo’s house as she was once leaving, together with one one that later mentioned he heard screaming and apologized for now not serving to.
A fourth particular person within the article described allegations of being sexually assaulted, in addition to bodily and emotional abuse.
Along with the reporting at the allegations, the investigation integrated masses of interviews with individuals who knew Logo or had up to now labored with him. This reporting additionally integrated descriptions from different girls of abuses by means of Logo, together with that he flashed his penis at an individual at the BBC set and that he threatened and shouted at girls who refused to have intercourse with him. Moreover, it said that Logo’s means towards girls was once an “open secret” amongst those that labored with him within the business and that previous colleagues at Channel 4 felt their position was once to assist Logo meet younger girls.
Just one comic, Daniel Sloss, spoke at the report about his wisdom of the allegations in opposition to Logo. He mentioned listening to rumors about Logo and mentioned feminine comedians warned each and every different about his predatory conduct.
Me Too has made key inroads but in addition faces vital backlash
After the motion took off within the wake of a 2017 New York Occasions investigation, which documented a long time of sexual harassment allegations in opposition to Harvey Weinstein — and resulted in him being convicted of third-degree rape and a first-degree legal sexual act — it had an important have an effect on. Within the years since, it’s helped carry consciousness of sexual misconduct and emboldened extra other folks to come back ahead.
The motion, then again, has confronted backlash in contemporary months.
Actor Johnny Depp, as an example, noticed a wellspring of public toughen throughout his defamation case in opposition to actress Amber Heard after she accused him of home abuse. He in the end received that case. Actor Kevin Spacey was once cleared of all fees in a high-profile abuse case in the United Kingdom in July. And comic Louis CK, who was once purported to be a serial sexual harasser, is within the midst of a comeback.
The precise has additionally seized at the Logo allegations as what they are saying is an instance of overreach by means of mainstream media. The comic has been boosted by means of right-wing commentators like Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, and Alex Jones, who’ve argued that he’s being attacked as a result of he promotes so-called “choice perspectives” on his YouTube channel. Recently, Logo is a wellness influencer on YouTube and has up to now increased conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and Ukraine.
There also are lingering questions on how the motion has fallen quick in different ways, together with whether or not it’s targeted an excessive amount of on sexual misconduct by means of person celebrities as opposed to the have an effect on that such abuses have had on extra susceptible teams, in particular low-income girls of colour. As CNN famous, over 70 p.c of feminine eating place employees say they’ve been sexually careworn within the place of work, a topic that issues to systemic and institutional issues that wish to exchange.
Those problems have resulted in fear concerning the state of Me Too, as my colleague Constance Grady defined. Based on the Depp case, Me Too founder Tarana Burke emphasised that the “motion may be very a lot ALIVE” and will have to be known for what number of survivors it has helped come ahead, slightly than being measured by means of the end result of particular instances.
There are indications of its broader luck as smartly. In keeping with a 2022 Pew ballot, 70 p.c of other folks imagine that perpetrators of sexual harassment or attack within the place of work are much more likely to be held responsible now in comparison to 5 years prior. And consistent with a 2021 AP/NORC ballot, 54 p.c of American citizens are much more likely to come back ahead about dealing with an act of sexual misconduct following the Me Too motion.
The Me Too motion’s momentum has been obvious in high-profile instances, too. It was once central to the frenzy calling out the movements of Spanish football president Luis Rubiales, who forcibly kissed a feminine participant after the group received the Girls’s International Cup. Moreover, because the New York Occasions reported, it has helped bolster the passage of twenty-two state regulations geared toward making improvements to place of work protection and a few that reach the statute of boundaries for reporting sexual attack. This previous yr, author E. Jean Carroll was once in a position to deliver a case accusing Trump of rape because of a Me Too-era exchange in New York state’s regulation, which permits other folks to briefly deliver some civil instances although the statute of boundaries has expired on an allegation.
Now, the allegations in opposition to Logo seem to be a continuation of this have an effect on.
