How ITV's top bosses fell under the spell of 'vile' rapist Russell Brand: ALISON BOSHOFF

The BBC and Channel 4 have attracted fire for their previous support for Russell Brand, who was jailed this week after being convicted of raping a fan in early 2009.However, it can be revealed that he had another powerful ally at this point, in the form of ITV executive Alison Sharman, the station's controller of factual and daytime from 2005.Much as controller Lesley Douglas supported Brand and protected him at BBC Radio 2, sources indicate that Sharman promoted him at ITV – where he was 'lionised', according to a source.Ms Sharman had met Brand in 2006 at the Edinburgh festival – which she chaired – and was a vocal supporter. He turned up on Richard and Judy's Book Club on ITV (one of her shows) and was booked multiple times in the following years on the daytime show Loose Women.In 2010 he told the Loose Women that he had kissed Meghan Markle when she was an extra on the film Get Him To The Greek.Pictures of Ms Sharman and Brand, alongside Brand's agent John Noel, have disappeared this week from the internet. The BBC and Channel 4 have attracted fire for their previous support for Russell Brand, who was jailed this week after being convicted of raping a fan in early 2009 (pictured hosting the BRIT Awards in 2007) Ms Sharman did not respond to requests for comment.A source said: 'Russell Brand was booked to address ITV's senior management conference in January 2007 and will have been well paid to do so. 'He was very late turning up and he seemed to be as high as a kite. He then gave a speech which was absolutely vile about women and having sex with them.'We'd previously had top businessmen address ITV. People were thinking, 'What has become of this company, that our top brass are sitting here listening to this drivel?'The source added: 'Some people walked out rather than listen to this foul stream of misogyny.'Afterwards, Michael Grade [ITV's newly appointed executive chairman] was heard to say he couldn't believe he had been booked.'What I couldn't believe was that even after this, he kept being booked to appear on shows.'Another source revealed some ITV executives had been keen to book Brand in 2006 as the host of the Brit Awards; but the controller of entertainment, Claudia Rosencrantz, vetoed it because Brand was 'utterly gross and repellent'.After she left ITV, Brand was booked the following year, hosting the event in 2007.At that point, Paul Jackson was the controller of entertainment.Brand's career was promoted by his agent John Noel, who took him on when he was still at MTV and supervised his launch into the mainstream. Noel also oversaw his rehab for heroin addiction in 2002; and a later stint in residential treatment for sex addiction.On Monday, Brand was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison after being found guilty of one count of rape and three sexual assaults.Sentencing him, Judge Joel Bennathan said the evidence in the case showed that during the peak of his celebrity, his entourage had 'indulged your dreadful behaviour'.Harper channels some of Mum's girl power Will it be third time lucky for Harper Beckham? I can reveal that the teenager has settled on a new name – the third – for her yet-to-launch skincare range, which will now be called 'Girl Skin'.Documents filed by Project Seven US Inc, the Beckham business running the show, reveal the name was submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at the end of last week.Harper had initially gone for Hiku by Harper; and then tried Harlo by Harper; but both ran foul of the USPTO.Harlo by Harper was rejected in October because the USPTO felt it might be confused with an existing company, Harlo, which sells nutritional supplements. Harper Beckham has settled on a new name – the third – for her yet-to-launch skincare range, which will now be called 'Girl Skin'Meanwhile, speaking of names, Victoria Beckham's UK trademarking of the names of all four of her children will run out on December 22. I am told that she will not be seeking to extend any of the trademarks, which run for ten years.When she took them out, all four children were minors. But now Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz are adults, and Brooklyn has famously fallen out with his family and is no longer a part of Brand Beckham.I revealed in October that Victoria is pouring $3million into launching her daughter's skincare brand. That figure was revealed in the first ever accounts filed by H7B Ltd. The company, which uses Harper's initials and the numeral '7' (because her middle name is Seven), was set up in October 2024, when the youngest Beckham was just 13 years old.The plan is to launch her brand towards the second half of next year; probably after Harper sits her GCSEs in May and June. (She turns 16 in July.)Girl Skin is expected to sell cleanser, toner, moisturiser and lip balm. Scrooge you! Depp snubs Press (again) Bah humbug! Johnny Depp's press tour for Ebenezer, his studio comeback, hit a bump in the road when the star dropped out of some planned interviews at the last minute.Depp, 63, has long had a difficult relationship with the Press, and has previous on this count.In 2024, he was blackballed by the international Press corps after turning up two hours late for interviews at the San Sebastian Film Festival.This time around, the casualty was a planned interview for Japan – the only one scheduled for that territory. I'm told: 'He flat cancelled – and even the distributor felt bad about it. He's learned nothing.'Friends of the star initially denied that there had been an issue, before admitting that there had in fact been a cancellation.But they said Depp completed a heavy schedule – in three different countries – to promote Ebenezer, the latest take on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.It's out today and everyone is waiting to find out whether the star, for a long time one of the world's most bankable, is still a box office draw. Johnny Depp's press tour for Ebenezer, his studio comeback, hit a bump in the road when the star dropped out of some planned interviews at the last minuteMy colleague Brian Viner was not convinced (two stars for the festive feature which also stars Sir Ian McKellen and Rupert Grint).But Depp certainly seemed pleased to be back, telling crowds at the London premiere this week: 'There's no way for me to explain how I feel. It's deep. These are the people who've supported me through thick and thin and I owe them.'His deep feelings did not extend to those attending the after party, however. A source told me 'sulky' Depp refused to go to the event.The actor dropped out of public view after the very messy end of his marriage to actress Amber Heard and two libel trials, one of which he lost and the other which he largely won.He appeared in a French film, Jeanne du Barry, in 2023; and directed another indie offering, Modi, which came out last year. But Ebenezer is a return to the mainstream. It may be followed by a reprisal of his most famous role – as Captain Jack Sparrow – in a planned new movie in that franchise.At the Cannes film festival in 2023, Depp made his distaste for the Press clear; likening those who would cancel him to a 'tower of mashed potatoes covered in light from a computer screen'.He added: 'It's almost like I need to come back and do a tap dance for you guys, and hope you approve... the notion of that is some kind of bizarre mystery.'Cannes is 'pro-film, but anti-American'Director James Gray is not a happy bunny. While promoting his new film Paper Tiger, which stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson and has been generally well received, he had some stern words for the folks at the Cannes film festival. The jury, not the audience.'The festival itself loves me,' the filmmaker (right) said. 'They love the movies, they love me, and a lot of the critical establishment in that country had been very embracing of the work.'But the festival is not really built for me, and it's not really built for Americans. Director James Gray had some stern words for the folks at the Cannes film festival as he said: 'The festival is not really built for me, and it's not really built for Americans''What a lot of normie people – critics that are not French – don't understand is that you don't win prizes at Cannes if you're an American.'When Americans run the juries, Americans get prizes. If it's Herfeldizabilazuv, you're not going to get jacks***.'There was no award for Paper Tiger this year, as you may have guessed.And while we're on the subject of unhappy directors, we've already marvelled at the bellyflop of Taika Waititi's film Klara and the Sun – and his response to reviewers (or 'sad lost souls who couldn't achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus became critics', as he calls them). Now comes news that his film averaged $17 per cinema across the US in 880 venues on one dismal day last week, before being pulled on Tuesday.The picture cost around $30million to make.No personality? No problem, for Bettany and his Vision Paul Bettany says he was offered the role of Vision in the Marvel films because the director Jon Favreau felt he had ‘no personality’.Bettany said: ‘There wasn’t an audition. There was a phone call from the director, who I’d worked with on Wimbledon as an actor. 'He said, “Hey Paul, so I’ve got this voice that’s inside Tony Stark’s suit and I need an actor with no personality whatsoever and I immediately thought of you”.’The 55-year-old British star said he told Mr Favreau: ‘Well, seeing you’ve asked so nicely, I’ll say yes.’Bettany plays the character in the new VisionQuest series, now streaming on Disney+.Jacob Elordi is out of the 007 race. The Australian has just started work on a new film – Scapegoat – which will keep him busy at a time when Amazon is hoping to have called ‘action’ on James Bond. The other front-runners – Callum Turner, Jack Lowden and Josh O’Connor – are free for the next few months. O’Connor is currently making Three Incestuous Sisters (with Lowden’s wife Saoirse Ronan). But that wraps soon, leaving him still firmly in the frame. Jacob Elordi has just started work on a new film – Scapegoat – which will keep him busy at a time when Amazon are hoping to have called ‘action’ on James BonThe Sky Arts competition Portrait Artist Of The Year is usually a safe space, having run for 13 series without incident. However, after shaking things up with three new judges, a micro-drama has ensued, with fans furious over one particular contestant, Rafaela de Ascanio, winning last week’s heat with a painting of Rylan Clark (right) which some likened to a cartoon.Following the backlash, the show has posted ‘a little reminder’ on Instagram which runs: ‘Behind every portrait are real people who have put themselves out there. Please be kind.’ Fans are furious over one particular contestant, Rafaela de Ascanio, winning last week’s heat with a painting of Rylan Clark (pictured) which some likened to a cartoon