Russell Brand has been convicted of one count of rape and three sexual assaults against four women, in a case involving allegations dating back more than 20 years.
The 51-year-old comedian and actor was taken into custody after Judge Joel Bennathan refused bail at Southwark Crown Court, warning that he faced a “significant” prison sentence when he is sentenced on Monday and could flee.
“I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course,” the judge said. “But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.”
Brand closed his eyes as the guilty verdict on the rape charge was read. After bail was denied, he gestured to his lawyers and repeatedly said: “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good,” before being taken away.
He was cleared of two further rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours over two days.
Brand denied all the charges during the trial. He told the court that, although he had been obsessed with sex and lived a promiscuous life when he was younger, he had never forced anyone to do anything against their will.
Russell Brand conviction follows allegations involving four women
Brand was found guilty of sexually assaulting one woman at a birthday party in a London bar in 2004, while being acquitted of orally raping her in a toilet.
He was also convicted of kissing and groping another woman at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005. A further conviction concerned the rape of a fan he met backstage at a comedy show in 2009.
The fourth conviction related to a 2009 incident in which a woman said Brand demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin while an advertisement was being recorded.
He was cleared of raping another woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party’s annual conference in Bournemouth in 1999. He was also acquitted of attempting to indecently assault a woman by dragging her towards the men’s toilets at the London offices of music channel MTV.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones described Brand during the trial as a “ruthless, calculating, manipulative ‘sexual predator’”.
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, of the Metropolitan Police, said the convictions were “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them”.
“Brand used his influence, status and fame to exploit and sexually offend against women,” he said. “As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement.”
Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s through stand-up comedy, television and his BBC radio show. He later appeared in Hollywood films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.
In recent years, he moved away from mainstream media, relocated to Florida and built a large online following through videos about wellness, conspiracy theories and his religious devotion.
During evidence, Brand said the criminal case had devastated his life and family. “My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations,” he said.
His lawyers argued that the women’s accounts were undermined by the fact that they reported the alleged assaults to police many years later, after a 2023 documentary broadcast anonymous allegations against Brand.
Brand also told the court that friends and colleagues had abandoned him. His wife, Laura, accompanied him to court and gave evidence as a character witness.
