Katherine Ryan jokes about the ‘elephant in the room’ in talk at TV event amid Russell Brand sex abuse claims

KATHERINE Ryan has joked about the "elephant in the room" in a speech after she was caught up in Russell Brand sex abuse claims.

The comedian, 40, was on at the Royal Television Society event in Cambridge on Wednesday for a set where she discussed her sex life, kids and ancestry.

At one point in her talk, Katherine revealed that she had lost two stone in the last two months.

She then went on to joke that her weight loss was the "elephant in the room" as she avoided any talk of her former colleague Brand, 48.

Her appearance comes just days after multiple women claimed Brand sexually assaulted them.

Ms Ryan appeared at The Sun's Who Cares Wins awards earlier this week after it emerged she'd called Brand out for being an alleged "predator".

On speaking out, Ryan told the : "Do you think maybe that singles me out as a trouble maker? Do you think perhaps women don't come forward for this and other similar reasons?"

She added that women fear their "professional relationships" could be damaged by talking about abusers.

"Women in my industry have these conversations and warn each other because that's the best course of safe action for us."

Ms Ryan, 40, last year revealed she'd confronted a colleague on a popular television programme because she believed he was an abuser.

She couldn't name the colleague at the time because it was a "litigious nightmare", and added that she hadn't been assaulted by them.

It has since been revealed that colleague was Brand and the comments were made while they were fellow judges on Comedy Central show Roast Battle in 2018.

Four women have accused Brand, 48, of rape and sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013 - when the comic was at the height of his fame, in a , Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches probe.

Brand has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

Speaking to fellow comic Sara Pascoe during her Amazon Prime series Backstage with Katherine Ryan, she said: "I've done a show with a person who you and I believe is a predator. What am I supposed to do?

"I've thought about that, but it's such a messy thing because I don't have proof - what, am I not supposed to feed my children because of someone else?"

Ms Pasco then said: "Also in that instance that you're referencing it was about raising it."

Ms Ryan then added: "I raised it. I called him a predator to his face and in front of everyone every day."

The Canadian comic also told Louis Theroux she confronted the unnamed man while they worked on a TV show "again and again".

It has since been revealed it was Brand that Ms Ryan called out, although her allegations did not make the final edit on the Comedy Central show.

In the clip, she claimed to have confronted the unnamed man "again and again" while they worked together and referred to him as a "predator".

When Theroux asked her what she meant by that term, the 40-year-old said: "I mean perpetrator of sexual assault."

Ryan added: ";But it is very dangerous for us to have this conversation.

"I'm happy to have it, but it is a litigious minefield.

"Lots of people have tried to nail this person down for their alleged crimes and this person has very good lawyers."

Pressed for more details, she said simply that it was "not her story to tell" but that she had heard the allegations from "very credible" sources.

Comedian Daniel Sloss told Channel 4's Dispatches there were "many stories with various degrees of severity" about Brand in the comedy circuit.

Meanwhile, BBC Director General Tim Davie has declined to rule out an external enquiry into the Brand allegations.

He stressed the issues are "not wholly historic".

Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon has said "terrible behaviour" towards women has been "historically tolerated" in the industry.

She added: "The allegations made against Russell Brand are horrendous and as a CEO of Channel 4 and as a woman in our industry, I found the behaviours described in Dispatches and The Sunday Times and The Times articles disgusting and saddening.

"'The allegations of course need to be followed up further and we and the BBC and Banijay are busy investigating."