Note: The content below may make mention of the following topics: sexual assault, rape or harassment. If you or a loved one is suffering from or has been a victim of sexual assault, rape or harassment, please visit RAINN.org or call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) for support.
On Friday, May 30, 2025, Russell Brand attended a pre-trial hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court and pleaded not guilty to each of the five counts of rape and assault he’s been charged with.
Brand has been accused of raping a woman at a nearby hotel room during a conference for the center-left Labour Party in 1999. Two years later, he’s accused of grabbing a woman’s arm and attempting to drag her into a bathroom at a TV station in London. In 2004, a woman has accused Brand of groping her and raping her at a bar in London. Between 2004 and 2005, he’s also been accused of pushing a woman against a wall, groping her, and kissing her while working on Big Brother’s Big Mouth.
Brand has claimed that he is recovering from sex and drug addictions, but denied raping or assaulting women.
“I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord,” he said in April. “I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile. But what I never was was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in nonconsensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
The trial is expected to begin in June 2026 and will reportedly last four weeks. Brand, living in Florida, will remain out on bond until then.
