Disney and Hulu have removed a new episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge season 2 with controversial comedian Russell Brand.
There’s plenty of exciting new content arriving on Disney Plus and Hulu this week, but both platforms have decided to remove a new episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge as it featured controversial comedian Russell Brand.
Disney removes Russell Brand’s episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls
The second season of Running with Bear Grylls: The Challenge (season 8 of the Running with Bear Grylls series) aired eight episodes on National Geographic between July and August 2023.
This week, the new season was released on Disney Plus and Hulu, however, the second season of Bear Grylls’ hit show debuted without one of its more popular episodes with British comedian Russell Brand.
The episode in question aired on August 6 and featured Grylls taking the TV personality on an adventure through the Scottish Hebrides, teaching him skills to survive on this stunning coastline and exploring the darkest parts of Brand’s infamous struggles with addiction.
While the episode itself had some incredibly poignant moments and revelations that may have helped viewers overcome their own issues with addiction, Disney has made the choice to remove this episode from their content library. The official 2023 October press release also confirmed only seven of the eight episodes would be available online.
In September 2023, an investigation conducted by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4’s Dispatches published allegations from five women accusing Brand of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013.
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As reported by the BBC, “All the women felt ready to speak only after being approached by reporters. The newspaper said several felt compelled to do so given Brand’s newfound prominence as an online wellness influencer. Most of the women, who the Times said do not know each other, have chosen to remain anonymous.”
The allegations rocked the British public and resulted in many of Brand’s affiliations either dropping the comedian or distancing themselves from the report, including his agent Tavistock Wood and YouTube’s monetization department.
In a video posted on social media, Brand denied any wrongdoing and claimed that his relationships have “always been consensual.”
“Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I’ve written about extensively in my books I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual.”
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Which other celebrities feature on Running with Bear Grylls: The Challenge?
Whilst the episode with Russell Brand has been removed from the Disney and Hulu catalogs, the season is well-worth watching for survival enthusiasts with some well-known names joining Bear Grylls on his adventures.
In season 2 of The Challenge, these guest stars include:
・American actor Bradley Cooper in the Wyoming Basin
・British actor Benedict Cumberbatch on the Isle of Skye
・British actress and singer Cynthia Erivo in the Brecon Beacons
・American actor Troy Kotsur in the Scottish Highlands
・British singer Rita Ora in the Valley of Fire
・American actor and rapper Daveed Diggs in the Great Basin Desert
・Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany in the Laramie Mountains
Running with Bear Grylls: The Challenge season 2 is available to stream online, the episode with Russell Brand can still be found on YouTube and is available on iTunes.
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