Lisa Nandy says media still fails to protect abuse accusers

By Tom Whitfield

Lisa Nandy said on Sunday that media institutions still fail to protect women who allege abuse after Russell Brand was convicted on Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. Brand faces sentencing on Monday.

The culture secretary made the claim in an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. Asked whether exploitation and abuse remained a problem in media and creative industries, Nandy replied:

“Yes, I do, and I think hand on heart I can’t say to you as the culture secretary that this is not happening today. In fact, if I had to wager, I would say it is,” she said.

Nandy connected that answer to what she called institutional inaction across media and public life, including politics. She said:

“The biggest reason I say that, and I won’t say it lightly, is because I do not see that much has changed in terms of the way that institutions in the media industry and across public life, including politics, deal with women who very bravely come forward to allege abuse. I think they’re not protected.”

She then identified the employment conditions that, in her view, make speaking up costly. Nandy said:

“I think that they work in industries like politics and media where the power imbalances are huge, where they’re often on short-term flexible contracts, and where who you know and reputation is often the key to career advancement. Speaking up has a very heavy cost.”

Nandy said she had told the media industry to build systems protecting vulnerable whistleblowers. She praised the BBC for signing up to the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, a whistleblowing body, and taking other steps in recent years. She also said the corporation had more to do.

“There are other institutions that haven’t done that, and time is up,” she said. “It really is time for the media industry to take this seriously and to put those practices into action.”

Brand’s conviction renewed scrutiny of how the UK entertainment industry had treated celebrities accused of abusing power. Some women said they feared that speaking out could harm their careers.

Nandy said the previous week that the case had to be a wake-up call for the media world and beyond, amid widespread concern about failures to confront Brand’s behaviour. After the verdicts, Brand was under investigation for two further rape allegations.

What does this change for women in media?

At present, it changes the public pressure on media employers more than it changes any woman’s working conditions. The account announces no new mandatory protection, named enforcement body, timetable or protected status for whistleblowers.

Nandy said earlier on Sky News Sunday Morning that the government was considering further steps to help protect whistleblowers in such circumstances. Consideration is not implementation, and her media speech did not specify which institutions must change their practices.

For a woman on a short-term flexible contract, Nandy’s answer is structural: stronger systems for protecting whistleblowers and less dependence on personal networks or reputation when careers advance. The account does not show that the BBC’s membership of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority has already improved protection for any accuser.

Nandy’s praise for the BBC therefore sets a partial benchmark, not proof of a solved problem. Her own qualification remains: more can be done, and other institutions have not joined that body.

The next test is whether the government turns its consideration into a named measure and whether media organisations beyond the BBC support the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority. Until then, Nandy has set an expectation, not delivered a safeguard.