Russell Brand was convicted on Thursday of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three more, after a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. The 51-year-old comedian and actor was remanded in custody, and the judge told him he faced a lengthy prison term when he is sentenced on Monday.
The jury found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, and acquitted him of two further rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. The seven charges involved six women and related to incidents between 1999 and 2009, the years in which Brand rose from stand-up comedy to television presenting and Hollywood film roles. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours over two days.
The convictions covered four separate incidents. Brand was found guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan he had met after a stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009, of sexually assaulting a woman at a birthday party in a Soho bar in 2004, of sexually assaulting a woman at the Choice FM radio studios in 2004 or 2005, and of sexually assaulting a woman working on a Channel 4 project in 2009. All six complainants are entitled to lifelong anonymity.
Prosecutors told the court that Brand, who had been open about his battles with drugs and sex addiction, was obsessed with sex and used women to satisfy his own desires. Lead prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones described him as funny and charming when he wanted to be, but also ruthless, calculating and manipulative, and interested only in getting what he wanted from women. Brand denied all the charges, saying the incidents had been consensual, reinvented or re-imagined. He told the court he had dedicated much of his life to “reckless philandering and idiocy”, but said sexual consent was fundamental.
Detective Inspector Laura Nelson, who headed the investigation, said after the verdicts that Brand was “a sexual predator” who had “abused his power throughout his career”, and that he had been emboldened the more famous he became. London’s Metropolitan Police said Brand remains under investigation for two further alleged rapes, and Nelson said police expected more allegations could emerge following the conviction. The complainants in the trial had come forward to police after a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and Sunday Times reports in 2023 in which other women made separate allegations against Brand; those women were not involved in the criminal trial.
Brand rose to prominence in Britain hosting a spin-off show to Big Brother on Channel 4, and went on to star in films including Get Him to the Greek and Arthur. In 2010 he married the US pop singer Katy Perry, a relationship that ended after 14 months. In later years he moved away from mainstream television and film and built a large social media following as an anti-establishment commentator, discussing politics, spirituality and religion. He was baptised as a Christian in 2024, after the allegations first became public.
Sources: Reuters (https://duke.fm/2026/11/05/comedian-russell-brand-found-guilty-by-uk-court-of-rape-and-sexual-assaults-2/) and Associated Press (https://www.whro.org/2026-11-05/russell-brand-is-convicted-of-rape-and-judge-says-hell-get-a-prison-term).
