Netflix to Stream Documentary 'Russell Brand: Open Secret'

Netflix is set to stream a documentary titled Russell Brand: Open Secret, The Hollywood Reporter reported on 12 November 2026. The film is about Brand, the comedian and broadcaster who has been sentenced to ten years and six months in prison for rape and sexual assault.

The documentary is directed by Olivia Isaacs. It is produced by 72 Films, a company that is part of Fremantle, the international television and production group. 72 Films also made Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, a documentary about the broadcaster Jimmy Savile.

The film will feature two journalists from The Times, a British newspaper. Rosamund Urwin, the paper's chief news correspondent, and Charlotte Wace, its investigations correspondent, will appear in it.

The case behind the film went to trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, where the hearing lasted four weeks. Brand was convicted of violent anal rape at his home in Hampstead in 2009. He was also convicted of three sexual assaults. The court sentenced him to ten years and six months.

After sentencing, Brand was moved to HMP Wandsworth, a prison in south London.

Documentaries of this kind pass through many hands before they reach a screen. A production company makes the film, a broadcaster or streaming service decides whether to buy it, and a release date is set. For viewers, the decision that matters is the last one: whether the film appears on the service and when.