Actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court Friday to rape and sexual assault charges involving four women dating back more than 25 years.
Brand, who turns 50 next week, denied two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. He said “not guilty” after each charge was read in Southwark Crown Court.
His trial was scheduled for June 3, 2026 and is expected to last four to five weeks.
Prosecutors said the offenses took place between 1999 and 2005 — one in the English seaside town of Bournemouth and the other three in London.
Brand did not speak to reporters as he arrived at court wearing dark sunglasses, a suit jacket, a black collared shirt open below his chest and black jeans.
Brand is accused of raping a woman at a hotel room in Bournemouth when she attended a 1999 Labour Party conference and met him at an event where he was performing. The woman alleged that Brand stripped while she was in the bathroom and when she returned to the room he pushed her on the bed, removed her underwear and raped her.
A second woman said Brand grabbed her forearm and attempted to drag her into a men’s toilet at a television station in London in 2001.
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The third accuser was a television employee who met Brand at a birthday party in a bar in 2004, where he allegedly grabbed her breasts before pulling her into a toilet and forcing her to perform oral sex.
The final accuser worked at a radio station and met Brand while he was working on a spin-off of the “Big Brother” reality television program between 2004 and 2005. She said Brand grabbed her by the face with both hands, pushed her against a wall and kissed her before groping her breasts and buttocks.
The Associated Press doesn’t name victims of alleged sexual violence, and British law protects their identity from the media for life.
Published – May 30, 2025 04:36 pm IST