Brad Williams: Comedian apologises after 'making up' story about allegedly raping woman on tour
'Then finally she realised she was having sex with me,' he told his fellow comedians
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Comedian Brad Williams has apologised after an old video surfaced online showing him seemingly confessing to raping a woman.
The 2014 clip is taken from Doug Benson’s podcast Getting Doug with High, in which guests answer questions while stoned.
After being asked to describe a “crazy” story about his time on the road with fellow comedian Carlos Mencia, Williams recounts an experience he now claims he “made up” about non-consensual sex with an unnamed woman on the tour bus.
“When we went on a tour bus together, this girl was on the bus [who] just really wanted to sleep with Carlos,” he said.
“Mencia’s married, so he turned off all the lights and then sent me, and [I] started hooking up with the girl. It went for a good 15 minutes before she realised that [while] Carlos is tiny, he shouldn’t have stubby arms like that. Then finally she realised she was having sex with me.”
Eddie Ifft, another comedian on the podcast, commented: “I feel like that’s a rape story.” The crew around the comedians can be heard laughing as Williams replies: “Not in a technical sense.”
Ifft adds: “I hope this was over seven years ago.” Williams then states: “It was – the statute of limitations are good.”
Williams’s anecdote was removed from the original episode but has since been uploaded to YouTube. Social media responded furiously with many criticising Williams’s fellow comedians for failing to act on his words.
“This whole video is truly sad – everyone besides the comedian knows he’s wrong, but won’t explicitly say so,” one tweeter wrote. “They can only say it in between laughter which only diffuses the seriousness of his admission.”
As news of the video circulated online, Williams posted a statement on his Twitter account in which he claimed that the story he told was “made up on the spot to try and be entertaining”.
“It was an unfunny, horrible fabrication,” he said, adding: “The topics that I made light of are extremely serious and I want everyone to know that I fully support the #MeToo movement. My ‘joke’ contributed to rape culture. For that, I am embarrassed and ashamed.”
The Independent has contacted Carlos Mencia and Eddie Ifft for additional comment.