During this period, Brand revelled in global success – he was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4, and an actor in Hollywood films. But while he laughed and joked about his promiscuity on a frequent basis – often aided by a tabloid media who dubbed him ‘Shagger Of The Year’ on more than one occasion – it’s come to light that many around him, often women, were warned about his predatory behaviour.

Comedian London Hughes has said she was warned not to sleep with Brand by talent bosses when she was signed to his agency. “My first day at the agency I was told unprovoked that I shouldn’t sleep with him… as after he had sex with [women], they made him feel sick, so he would have them fired or dropped from the agency,” she wrote in a tweet. 

In the Dispatches documentary, comedian Daniel Sloss claimed women working on the comedy circuit would warn each other about Brand. Sloss said that many people in that industry were aware of his alleged abusive and coercive behaviour, adding: “For many, many years, women have been warning each other about Russell.” And herein lies the dangerous truth of a historic epidemic that is far from being adequately addressed.

Putting the allegations against Brand – which he has strongly denied – to one side, when we think back to other high-profile cases of those who have been accused of sexual misconduct in recent years, almost every one shares an uncomfortable sense that it was an ‘open secret’.

That guy everyone told you to stay away from? It’s time society stops protecting him and starts protecting us