[Iceman]

Comic Russell Brand claimed a pair of male celebrities were child abusers to a large television studio audience yesterday. During a break in the filming of Brand X, his U.S. TV chat show that is filmed in London but not shown in Britain, Brand, 37, said the two men were paedophiles during a monologue about disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Saville and Operation Yewtree, the police investigation into historical child abuse in the world of showbusiness. The Daily Star reported he told the stunned crowd: 'And you've got the lesser ones... the underlings. There's ______.'

He added: 'And some say old ______ is playing around.' Neither of the men mentioned have ever been convicted of a sex offence. He also told the 200 guests at the Duchess Theatre in Covent Garden that the investigation made the controversy surrounding the call he made to actor Andrew Sachs joking about sleeping with his granddaughter, egged on by TV star Jonathan Ross, not quite as controversial.

Speaking of the incident, widely known as Sachsgate, he said: 'It puts the whole Sachsgate thing into perspective doesn't it? '"I ********* your adult granddaughter". Not quite the same, is it?' A member of the audience said the comedian and movie actor made the audience uncomfortable when he made the claims. He said: 'No-one had heard these stars linked to the Savile case. They didn't have a clue until then.'

Controversial: Russell Brand in West Hollywood. He said Sachsgate paled in significance to the current controversy over alleged sexual abuse
The newspaper contacted the agents of the two men named for comment, one said they had not heard of the incident and had no comment. The other was not available.

Brand and Jonathan Ross caused a national scandal in 2008 when they left smutty messages on veteran actor Andrews Sachs's answerphone during a pre-recorded Radio 2 show.

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