Russell Brand went on trial last month and today he was convicted of one count of rape and three additional counts of sexual assault. He was found not guilty on two other counts of rape and one more count of indecent assault.
The jury, at Southwark Crown Court in London, took about eight and a half hours to reach its unanimous decisions, which concerned episodes that prosecutors said involved six women and occurred between 1999 and 2009, a period when Mr. Brand was becoming a public figure.
The judge, Joel Bennathan, said he would sentence Mr. Brand, 51, to “significant custodial time” on Monday and denied him bail. Under British sentencing guidelines for rape, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment, although a more typical prison term is four to 19 years...
The jury’s decisions came just over three years after The Times of London, The Sunday Times and the prominent British television program “Dispatches” published a joint investigation into Mr. Brand’s past behavior, in which four women accused the comedian of sexual assault, including one accusation of rape.
The Times of London story was published in September 2023. Here's a bit of what it said:
The comedian and actor Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse during a seven-year period at the height of his fame.
Four women have alleged sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, while he was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and then an actor in Hollywood films. Others have made a range of accusations about Brand’s controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
Brand denied the allegations and said his relationships have all been consensual...
One woman alleges that Brand raped her against a wall in his Los Angeles home. She was treated at a rape crisis centre on the same day, according to medical records. Text messages show that in the hours after leaving his house, she told Brand that she had been scared by him and felt taken advantage of, adding: “When a girl say[s] NO it means no.” Brand replied saying he was “very sorry”.
A second woman alleges that Brand assaulted her when he was 31 and she was 16 and still at school. She said he referred to her as “the child” during an emotionally abusive and controlling relationship that lasted for about three months, and that Brand once “forced his penis down her throat”, making her choke. She says she tried to push him off and said she had to punch him in the stomach to make him stop.
At the time the allegations were made, Brand put out a video response denying any non-consensual sex.
During the trial, the woman who accused him of rape testified that she'd asked him to stop and he refused.
The guilty verdict for rape concerned a 2009 episode in which a woman said in a police interview played in court that she had gone to Mr. Brand’s home expecting to have consensual vaginal sex. But during intercourse, she said, he removed his condom and began having anal sex with her.
She told the court that she was initially so shocked that she couldn’t breathe, but then managed to ask him to cease. “I said, ‘Can you stop?’” she added: “I said it repeatedly.”
The woman told numerous people after the episode that Mr. Brand had assaulted her, some of whom testified in court. She added that Mr. Brand had refused her pleas and left her bleeding and in pain.
Mr. Brand testified that they had consensual anal sex and that she had never told him to stop during the encounter...
In the trial, Mr. Brand mostly gave short answers when testifying. He told the jury that he had “misused” his fame to obtain sex but had always obtained consent, which he said was “fundamental, essential, necessary.”
Obviously, the jury did not believe him. The BBC has a story by a correspondent who was at the trial.
The flamboyant character with big gestures and provocative one-liners was not the man we saw in the courtroom.
During his rape trial, Brand mostly sat impassively in the dock, staring straight ahead. His stillness was striking. His face betrayed no visible emotion or reaction as the string of allegations against him were outlined in detail over several days.
The Brand on show in this trial seemed courteous to a fault.
Yet the polite, respectful man we saw holding doors open and thanking court staff was in striking contrast to how he was portayed in the evidence we heard.
His victims told of a brash, arrogant, sexually voracious man who did not take no for an answer from the women he preyed on; a ruthless rapist and manipulative sex offender...
In the dock Brand's statue-like demeanour was broken only occasionally, when, during some of the evidence, he closed his eyes for several seconds, perhaps in silent prayer or meditation. There was no fidgeting or movement. He didn't flinch.
Brand chose to testify on his own behalf.
Brand took to the witness box on day 10 of the trial. His testimony was perhaps unsurprising - after all, nobody apart from his wife had been prepared to speak up for him in court as part of the defence's case.
It was a nervous beginning. Brand entered the witness box wearing a dark suit and a white open- necked shirt. In an unusually loud voice he answered "no" to each of the allegations that were put to him.
His sentencing will take place next week:
He will be sentenced at the same court on Monday, 9 November.
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, from the Metropolitan Police Service, said: "Today's verdict is first and foremost a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them. Despite intense media and public scrutiny, they relived deeply personal and traumatic experiences and placed their trust in us. Without their bravery, this outcome would not have been possible.
BREAKING: Russell Brand is found guilty of rape and three counts of sexual assault after a London jury delivers its verdict in the high-profile trial involving allegations dating back more than 20 years. The 51-year-old British comedian and actor denied the allegations, insisting his sexual encounters were consensual. Jurors convicted him on four charges while acquitting him on three others. Brand now faces a significant prison sentence, with sentencing scheduled for Monday. The judge's decision on what happens next marks another major turn in the case. Full details: https://t.co/5ebO692hse
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 5, 2026
