British comedian and actor Russell Brand went on trial at Southwark Crown Court in London on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, facing charges of rape, sexual assault, and indecent assault involving six women between 1999 and 2009. Prosecutors branded him a ruthless predator, while Brand maintained his innocence outside court.
Russell Brand Stands Trial at Southwark Crown Court
Russell Brand arrived at Southwark Crown Court in central London on Wednesday morning to face trial on three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault involving six women between 1999 and 2009.
Today I feel blessed, I feel of course concerned, but hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved,
Brand told the press, adding, That’s my prayer.
Brand has consistently denied all accusations against him and previously insisted that his sexual relationships were absolutely always consensual.
The police investigation eventually led the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise additional charges, bringing the total count to seven charges across six women. None of the complainants were acquainted with one another, all were unacquainted prior to the events, and each individual initiated their reports separately.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones Details Allegations Against Brand
According to Karmy-Jones, the settings where these supposed occurrences transpired featured a hotel room, professional workspaces, a bar’s restroom stall, as well as his residential property.
“He was ruthless, he was calculated, and he was manipulative, and the prosecution say – a sexual predator.”
Riel Karmy-Jones KC, Prosecutor
The prosecution outlined several specific incidents spanning the decade-long indictment. Among them, an allegation that Brand raped a woman after performing a show at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999, during which she told him she did not want to go through with it and he replied to not be a spoilsport. Another incident involved an MTV worker in 2001 who offered to show him the toilets after he made a remark about his T-shirt, only for him to grab her arm with a desperate look and try to pull her inside. Jurors also heard about an alleged assault involving a radio station worker in the mid-2000s, and an attack in a Soho bar in July 2004 where he grabbed a woman’s breasts with a weird grin on his face.
Witness Accounts and Friends’ Statements Presented in Court
The court heard testimony from a former friend of Brand who claimed the comedian bragged in 1999 about wanting to bed 5,000 women in his lifetime and laid out rules to achieve this, including telling women what they wanted to hear before pouncing. Witnesses noted he would often tell women what they wanted to hear and act charming when he wanted something in return.
Prosecutors detailed that Brand would appear indifferent, normal, and untroubled after an event, caring nothing about the state in which he left the women. During the radio station incident, the victim managed to push him away and told him to f*** off while his companions stood by and laughed at the display.
Russell Brand Rose to Fame in Television and Film
Brand became a household name in British television during the early 2000s, presenting talk shows such as Celebrity Big Brother’s Big Mouth
and hosting The Russell Brand Show
on BBC Radio 2. His broadcasting career included presenting roles at the 2007 Brit Awards, Comic Relief, and the MTV Music Video Awards, alongside receiving three British Comedy Awards and a Bafta nomination. He also gained fame for starring in Hollywood films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall
, Get Him to the Greek
, Rock Of Ages
, and Arthur
.
His career faced a major halt in 2008 when he quit his BBC radio show after offensive voice messages left by him and Jonathan Ross for Andrew Sachs were broadcast. He was previously married to American singer Katy Perry after they married following a romance, with their divorce finalized in 2012 after 14 months of marriage. More recently, Brand has mainly appeared in online broadcasts focusing on US politics, religion, and free speech, and has relocated to Florida.
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