Comedian and actor Russell Brand is due to appear at Westminster magistrates' court on Friday after being charged last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault, relating to four separate women. The 49-year-old is accused of incidents between 1999 and 2005 in Bournemouth and the Westminster area of London.
In a video posted on X after he was charged, the comedian said: "I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that." He continued: "I’ve always told you guys that when I was young and single before I had a wife and family, who are there just out of shot. I was a fool, man, I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile but what I never was, was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity, and I pray that you can see that in my eyes."
The move to charge the Hollywood star came after detectives launched an investigation into his behaviour in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations following reporting by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times. The Metropolitan Police in announced in April that Brand had been charged with the rape of a woman in 1999 in the Bournemouth area and the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in 2004 in the Westminster area of London.
Brand is also charged with indecently assaulting a woman in 2001 and sexually assaulting another woman between 2004 and 2005 – both alleged to have taken place in Westminster, London.
The 49-year-old, who is now a married father-of-two, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, May 2. Jaswant Narwal, of the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement at the time: “We carefully reviewed the evidence after a police investigation into allegations made following the broadcast of a Channel 4 documentary in September 2023. We have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with offences including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault.
"These relate to reported non-recent offences between 1999 and 2005, involving four women. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for a first hearing on Friday May 2 2025. The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
