Jury convicts Russell Brand on four counts of sexual assault and rape
The 51-year-old comedian faces a prison sentence Monday after a jury rejected his claim that all encounters were consensual.
By Nia Foster ·
Russell Brand stands convicted of four sexual offenses, including one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The 51-year-old British actor and comedian will receive his sentence on Monday in London. A jury of eight men and four women rejected his defense that the encounters were consensual.
The trial concluded after a jury found Brand guilty on four of seven counts brought by six accusers. The convictions cover allegations spanning a 15-year period from 2004 to 2019. He was acquitted of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
The legal dispute traces back to 2023, when The Times and Channel 4 aired an investigation featuring women who alleged Brand sexually abused and degraded them. That reporting prompted several accusers to come forward with specific claims. The court case followed those initial revelations.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones described Brand as a ruthless and calculating sexual predator. She argued he treated women as a disposable commodity. To support this characterization, she quoted Brand's 2007 memoir, My Booky Wook, where he wrote that he would determinedly remove anything in his way to possess the object of his desire.
The jury found Brand guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a London bar in 2004. He was also convicted of kissing and groping a woman at a London radio station in either 2004 or 2005. Two further convictions stem from 2009 incidents: the anal rape of a fan at his home and the sexual assault of a woman during an advertisement recording.
Brand was cleared of raping a woman in a Bournemouth hotel room in 1999. The jury also acquitted him of attempting to indecently assault a woman at the London office of MTV. British law protects the identities of the women involved for life, and the Associated Press does not name victims of alleged sexual violence.
Brand will appear in court on Monday for sentencing. He faces a substantial prison term based on the convictions. Since rising to fame in the early 2000s through television and radio, he has moved to Florida and built a large online following focused on wellness and religious devotion.
