Russell Brand found guilty of rape, sexual assault after bombshell trial - USA Today
A jury has delivered a verdict in Russell Brand's sexual assault case.
The British comedian, 51, was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault in London's Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, Nov. 5. He was acquitted of two other rape charges, as well as one count of attempted indecent assault.
Judge Joel Bennathan said he would sentence him on Monday, Nov. 9. In England and Wales, a rape conviction can carry a maximum of life imprisonment, though sentencing guidelines list an offense range of four to 19 years in custody. Sexual assault convictions can result in up to 10 years in prison.
The offenses took place between 1999 and 2009 involving six different women. Brand denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all seven charges.
Prosecutors said Brand's crimes took place over a decade, with the first in 1999 when a woman accused him of raping her in her hotel room after his show at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth, England. She said the actor's demeanor went from "camp, friendly and effeminate" to "monster-like."
In 2001, the ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry was accused of attempting to drag a woman into the men's bathroom cubicle in the MTV Europe offices after she complimented his shirt, labeling him a "wild-eyed maniac."
Three years later, another woman said Brand dragged her into a restroom in a bar, where he orally raped her. A fourth woman said around that same time in 2004 or 2005, Brand groped her at a London radio station.
In 2009, a fan accused Brand of anally raping her at his house after a prior consensual sex act. Also that year, a woman said Brand demanded a massage from her and pressed his face into her groin area while they were working together.
During trial, Brand admitted he "misused" his fame "very, very selfishly" to have sexual encounters with women in the past, but testified on the stand that he never engaged in non-consensual activity.
"Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary, and in many ways, more important than sex itself," he said.
His attorneys also argued the case was "thoroughly contaminated" by an episode of Channel 4's 2023 documentary, "Dispatches," which featured anonymous allegations against Brand and prompted his six accusers to go to authorities.
"They have all come forward because they have been brought at the invitation of that program," Brand's lawyer Ian Winter said in court. "They are all, we say, thoroughly contaminated by the program. The very existence of them as complainants is fundamentally corrupted by that program and publicity and [that] renders it fundamentally unfair."
During closing statements Friday, Oct. 30, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones pushed back, noting the women did not know each other and rather spoke out when they "realized they are not alone."
"Six women who have nothing to gain, who have not sought the limelight, who have not looked out for some form of publicity, who have not taken part in a documentary, not made claims for compensation," she said. "There is no benefit to them, apart from perhaps some closure by coming before you and telling you their accounts of what happened to them so long ago."
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800-656-HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
