Ex comic in court over rape and assault charges

Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to five sex offence charges including rape and indecent assault.

The 49-year-old formally entered his plea at Southwark Crown Court this morning, and he will now face trial, scheduled to take place in June next year.

He stands accused of one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.

The charges against him were first laid out at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, where he was bailed until today

Here he is arriving at court, wearing a dark jacket and shirt open to the navel, saying nothing as he walked throught a phalanx of photographers

Brand has always denied the allegations, made public in the Times newspapers and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023. 

Before he appeared in front of magistrates, the former comic and born-again Christian told his 11.3million X followers: ‘I know that I’m a broken sinner and a wretched hopeless individual but I know I’m innocent, so an examination, a thorough and intrepid examination, will establish that innocence in the eyes of everybody. I welcome it, what a relief it will be - I’m going to my country right now.’

Brand is accused of raping a woman in 1999 in the Bournemouth area; indecently assaulting a woman in 2001 by 'grabbing her arm and dragging her towards a male toilet’, and  a sexual assault between 2004 and 2005 in Westminster.

He is also accused of sexually assaulting another woman in Westminster, London, in 2004, by touching her breasts without her consent, and with orally raping the same woman, also in 2004.

The four women will remain anonymous due to the nature of the charges. 

Published: 30 May 2025