A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London convicted Russell Brand on Thursday 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 split verdict resolved seven charges built on allegations from six women covering the decade from 1999 to 2009. The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours over two days, Al Jazeera reported. Brand, 51, had been on bail; Judge Joel Bennathan revoked it and remanded him into custody ahead of sentencing on Monday.
The four convictions and what the jury did not accept
The guilty counts, as detailed by CBS News, are: grabbing a woman’s breasts during a party at a bar in London’s Soho district in the summer of 2004; sexually assaulting a woman at the London radio station Choice FM in 2004 or 2005; and raping a woman at his home in Hampstead in 2009. CBC reported that the four convictions involve four women. The acquittals covered two of the three original rape charges and the attempted indecent assault count, leaving a 4-to-3 split that the jury reached only after two days.
Bennathan told Brand in court: “You’ve been convicted of a number of offences including rape. The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term. My current view is that I therefore have to remand you into custody.” On the effect on Brand’s children, the judge added, according to the Associated Press: “I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course. But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.” Brand closed his eyes as the rape verdict was read and otherwise showed no emotion; when bail was denied he told his lawyers repeatedly, “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good,” before being led away.
How the case reached court, and the defence that failed
The allegations surfaced publicly through a 2023 documentary containing anonymous accounts against Brand. The women in it said they had felt ready to speak only after being approached by reporters, with some citing Brand’s renewed online fame as a factor in coming forward. Brand’s defence leaned on that sequence: his lawyers argued the complainants were undermined because they went to police years after the alleged assaults and only after the documentary aired. Brand himself suggested during the trial that the reports were a coordinated attack prompted by his profile as an online wellness influencer and political commentator.
On the stand, Brand denied the charges. He testified that he had been obsessed with sex as a young man and had led a promiscuous life, but had never forced anyone to act against their will, saying he believes “consent is absolutely non-negotiable.” He called the case’s effect on his life and family devastating: “My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations.” He told the court that friends and colleagues had abandoned him; his wife, Laura, testified as a character witness, but, he said, no one with relevant evidence was willing to give evidence on his behalf. The jury’s verdict shows that, on four of the seven counts, twelve people decided the delayed-reporting argument did not outweigh the complainants’ testimony.
Senior Crown prosecutor David Roberts said in a statement shared with CBC: “Russell Brand was predatory and used his celebrity status to commit sexual crimes. He was a manipulator with an insatiable desire to get what he wanted, regardless of whether consent was given or not.” At trial, a prosecutor had described Brand as a ruthless, calculating, manipulative “sexual predator.”
The file is not closed
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of the Metropolitan Police said outside the courthouse that “today’s verdict sends a clear message that no one is above the law, regardless of their fame, wealth, influence or public profile,” and appealed for anyone else affected by the case to contact police. In a separate statement to CBC, he called the conviction “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward,” adding: “Brand used his influence, status and fame to exploit and sexually offend against women. As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement.”
The appeal is not rhetorical. The Metropolitan Police confirmed to CBC that a live investigation is running into rape allegations made by two additional women, that Brand has been interviewed about them, and that files on both complainants have been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service. “Detectives remain in close contact with prosecutors as enquiries continue and further investigative work is carried out,” a Met spokesperson said. Whether the CPS authorises further charges is now an open decision resting with prosecutors, pending the remaining investigative work.
Brand’s father, Ron Brand, told the BBC after the verdict that he was “bemused and shocked.” “I just didn’t expect this - it’s wrong,” he said. “It’s devastating.” Brand’s lawyer had not responded to CBC’s request for comment.
Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s hosting television programmes and a BBC radio show, became known for risqué stand-up and public battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in the films Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, and was briefly married to Katy Perry. In recent years he left mainstream media, relocated to Florida, and built a large online following around videos mixing wellness, conspiracy theories and religious devotion - the same profile his defence cast as the motive for a coordinated campaign against him, and the same one the detective superintendent described as feeding his sense of entitlement. The number to watch comes Monday: the length of the custodial term Bennathan has already characterised as “significant.”