Jack Bayles Steps Back at VAL After Brand Verdict — SkimNews
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- Various Artists Limited asked Jack Bayles, its head of comedy, to step back while it considers the verdict and the events surrounding the trial; the London company behind Michaela Coel's "I May Destroy You" said its thoughts are primarily with every one of Brand's victims.
- Russell Brand was found guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 employee, two further counts of sexual assault and one count of rape — the verdict now under review at VAL.
- The Times reported to the court that Bayles and Gareth Roy said Brand would only continue working if the complainant gave him a massage; the woman complained to her Channel 4 bosses the next day.
- Gareth Roy was named alongside Bayles in the Channel 4 workplace manager's evidence: the victim was told several times to "just do it" by the two men, who were "both there the whole time and watched and laughed" while Brand assaulted her.
- Jack Bayles said he does not remember the 2009 incident, acknowledged he "clearly missed something at the time" and apologized; he said he stopped working with Brand in 2010, has had no contact since, and that no complaints about Brand were made to him.
- Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong founded VAL in 2017; Bayles joined four years ago as head of comedy, overseeing the company's comedy slate and developing new projects.
- Catastrophe was previously produced by Bayles with Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, and he was appointed Channel 4 commissioning editor in 2017.
Why it matters: For Bayles, the loss is the head-of-comedy role he had held at VAL for four years. For VAL, founded by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong in 2017, the Brand verdict now reaches its own executive bench: the company asked Bayles to step back, and its statement puts Brand's victims first, with testimony that he and Gareth Roy watched and laughed.
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