Russell Brand has been found guilty of rape.
After two days of deliberations, the jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court delivered a verdict on seven sexual offense charges, finding the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
He was found not guilty on two other counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault, which was reduced from indecent assault during the trial. Brand firmly denied all the charges, based on allegations made by six women. The charges and verdicts are detailed below.
Judge Mr Justice Bennathan told Brand that he would be given a “significant custodial term” and he was remanded in custody until sentencing on Monday.
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Deadline has been reporting daily from a live video feed of the courtroom since the trial began around a month ago. It was initially anticipated to take at least six weeks but has taken less than four.
Over the past month, the court has heard from all the accusers, who have a lifelong right to anonymity. Brand and his wife also gave evidence.
All accusers came forward after seeing allegations about Brand in a Channel 4 documentary in 2023 and reading about him in The Times.
Brand’s defense argued that this documentary “poisoned the well of justice deliberately” and “fundamentally corrupted” his accusers, while having a “truly devastating effect” on Brand’s life.
The prosecution said the exposé was not a “magic force” that caused six separate women to “recast” their memories, but that it had caused them to come forward and tell stories about their encounters with Brand that had “haunted them for years.”
The allegations stretched from 1999 to 2009, a period that saw Brand go from being an unknown actor to, in his own words, “staggering fame” after he started dating superstar Katy Perry.
Charge 1, Complainant 1: Rape
Complainant 1 alleged that she was raped by Russell Brand after meeting him on the fringes of the Labour Party Conference in 1999. C1 invited Brand back to her hotel room and alleged that he pushed her onto the bed and raped her. Brand, who was not famous in 1999, argued that the encounter was consensual.
Verdict: Not guilty
Charge 2, Complainant 2: Attempted Indecent Assault
Complainant 2, a former MTV employee, accused Brand of attempting to pull her into a toilet at the network’s London offices in 2001. During the trial, judge Mr Justice Bennathan reduced the charge from indecent assault to attempted indecent assault because there was “insufficient evidence” to support the original count. Brand’s defense was that he did not recall the incident, but denied that he attempted any non-consensual assault.
Verdict: Not guilty
Charge 3, Complainant 3: Sexual Assault
Complainant 3 alleged that Brand “lunged and squeezed” her breasts within minutes of their first meeting in 2004 while attending the birthday party of a TV producer at London’s Nordic Bar. Brand denied sexually assaulting Complainant 3, who worked at MTV at the time.
Verdict: Guilty
Charge 4, Complainant 3: Rape
Complainant 3 alleged that Brand grabbed her arm and dragged her into the toilets of the Nordic Bar. The woman claimed that Brand climbed onto the toilet seat, exposed himself, forced his penis in her mouth, and ejaculated. In his defense, Brand argued that Complainant 3 willingly accompanied him to the toilet, where they had a “kiss and a cuddle.” He denied orally raping the woman.
Verdict: Not guilty
Charge 5, Complainant 4: Sexual Assault
Complainant 4 alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Brand at a radio station in 2004 or 2005. She claimed that Brand “grabbed” her, pushed her up against a wall, and kissed her “sloppily and aggressively.” Brand denied the incident.
Verdict: Guilty
Charge 6, Complainant 5: Rape
Complainant 5 alleged that she was anally raped by Brand at his London home in 2009 days after meeting him backstage at his stand-up show, where she gave him consensual oral sex. Complainant 5 said they had consensual vaginal sex at his home,efore alleging that Brand turned her on all fours and unexpectedly penetrated her anally, removing his condom. Brand said the anal intercourse was consensual.
Verdict: Guilty
Charge 7, Complainant 6: Sexual Assault
A former Channel 4 employee, Complainant 6 alleged that Brand demanded a massage and put his head into the area of her genitals during a workplace incident in 2009. Brand told the court that he could not recall the incident.
Verdict: Guilty
