Russell Brand has appeared in court charged with two further sexual offences, including rape.
The comedian and actor has already denied five allegations involving four women from between 1999 and 2005, including two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault.
In December last year, he was charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in relation to two more women. Per court documents, the alleged offences took place in London in 2009. At the time, Det Ch Insp Tariq Farooqi from the Metropolitan Police said that the women who made reports were receiving support from specially trained officers.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this afternoon (January 20) via video link from Florida, Brand spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth (via BBC News).
At the end of the six-minute hearing, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring KC told him: “Mr Brand, one of the charges you face is what we call indictable only, which means it can only be tried in the Crown Court.”
Brand, who also has an address in Oxfordshire, was bailed to appear at Southwark Crown Court for a plea hearing on February 17, with the condition that he is required to notify the police of any change of address.
In relation to the five original charges, a trial is set to begin at the Crown Court later this year. As the court heard in May 2025, Brand is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room while she attended a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and grabbing a TV worker’s breasts and orally raping her in a male toilet.
It’s also alleged that he grabbed a radio station worker’s face, pushing her against the wall and kissing her before groping her breast and buttocks. He is also accused of indecently assaulting another woman after grabbing her forearm and attempting to drag her into a male toilet.
The charges were brought against Brand on April 4 last year. The same day, Brand released a statement denying the allegations via Instagram. In the video, captioned “my response”, he denied all allegations made against him.
Detectives began to investigate allegations against the former Big Brother’s Big Mouth presenter that came to light following reporting from Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times in September 2023.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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