British comedian and actor Russell Brand has been found guilty of rape and three counts of sexual assault by a London court, following a trial involving allegations of sexual offences spanning a decade.
Brand, 51, was convicted on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court after denying the charges brought against him. He was acquitted of two additional rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. Brand, who starred in films including Get Him to the Greek and Arthur, was previously married to American singer Katy Perry.
According to Reuters, Judge Joel Bennathan said Brand faces a lengthy prison sentence and scheduled his sentencing for Monday. The comedian was taken into custody ahead of a bail application.
The convictions relate to incidents between 1999 and 2009, a period during which Brand rose from performing stand-up comedy in small venues to becoming one of Britain’s most recognisable television personalities and Hollywood actors.
Allegations and Court Case
The court heard evidence from six women, whose identities are protected by lifelong anonymity orders. The complainants did not know one another but came forward to the police following a 2023 television documentary and media reports detailing allegations against Brand.
Among the allegations resulting in convictions was a 2009 rape involving a woman who had met Brand after attending one of his comedy performances.
The woman told the court that she had initially engaged in consensual sexual activity with Brand in his dressing room. However, she alleged that when she later visited his home, he anally raped her during a sexual encounter. She further testified that he instructed her to clean up the blood and mess afterwards.
Brand was also convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at a London bar in 2004. The complainant told the court that he approached her at a party and grabbed her breasts.
Another conviction related to an incident in 2009, when Brand allegedly demanded a massage from a woman working on a promotional project before putting his head between her legs in front of two of his colleagues.
A further sexual assault conviction concerned an incident in 2004 or 2005 involving a woman working at a radio station, who testified that Brand assaulted her during an attack in front of members of his entourage.
Throughout the proceedings, Brand denied the allegations, maintaining that the encounters were consensual or that the accusations had been reinvented or reimagined.
The convictions mark a significant development in the criminal proceedings against the former television and radio presenter, whose public image and career came under scrutiny following the allegations that emerged in 2023.
