A Russell Brand joke that originally appeared in a Gavin & Stacey Christmas special no longer features in the episode on BBC iPlayer.
Last week, the comedian, 51, was convicted on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, for which he was later sentenced to 10 years in prison. His trial came over three years after Channel 4’s Dispatches publicly accused Brand of sexually assaulting other women between 2006 and 2013.
It now appears that a joke that featured in Gavin & Stacey’s 2009 Christmas special, starring and written by Ruth Jones and James Corden, has been retrospectively edited out of the episode – although it is unclear when the cut took place.
In the original broadcast, Nessa (played by Jones) is seen returning to the dinner table after putting baby Neil to sleep, telling the group: “I had to read to him to get him off.”
When asked by Pam (Alison Steadman) whether she had been reading a fairy story, Nessa told her: “No. Russell Brand: My Booky Wook. He’s loving every word.”
While this exchange currently remains in the episode that’s on BBC iPlayer, the following part has been removed – where Nessa tells Stacey (Joanna Page) that they didn’t get a mention in the comedian’s autobiography.
“Aw that’s a shame. I’m quite disappointed, are you?” Stacey said, to which Nessa replied: “Don’t be, Stace. We had a cracking night, Pam. All three of us.”
In the version currently on iPlayer, Stacey and Nessa’s conversation has been edited out, with Nessa instead complimenting Pam on the cooking of her turkey. Versions of the episode that are available to buy on other platforms still contain the original scene.
Fans noticed in November 2023, shortly after the release of the Dispatches allegations, that the scene had been edited out of the iPlayer release. However, a spokesperson from the BBC said at the time: “This version was uploaded to BBC iPlayer in error. The original version will be on BBC iPlayer shortly.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC, Jones and Corden for comment.
Brand’s memoir was released in 2007 and details the now-disgraced comedian’s rise to fame and experience with drug addiction. It has since been withdrawn from print by publishers Pan Macmillan and Hodder & Stoughton following his criminal conviction.
Since Brand’s conviction, various concerning clips have resurfaced from his TV career – from joking about rape on Channel 4’s Big Fat Quiz of the Year to asking Vanessa Feltz if he could “have it off” with her daughters despite the youngest being 15 at the time.
Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on Monday (9 November) after being found guilty of rape and three sexual assaults. He will serve at least two thirds of that sentence, Mr Justice Bennathan told Southwark Crown Court.
In a victim impact statement read to the court on Monday, a woman who was sexually assaulted by Brand at Choice FM in 2005 said that the comic is “a sexual predator who has no remorse for how his behaviour has impacted my life”.
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