Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assault in U.K. trial
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- A London jury delivered a mixed verdict in the rape and sexual assault case against British actor-comedian Russell Brand.
- Brand was convicted on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault but cleared on three other charges.
- A judge said Brand faces a “significant” prison term when he is sentenced on Monday.
British actor Russell Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault charges in a London courtroom on Thursday, three years after an investigation by British media cast a new shadow on the former Hollywood star–turned–religious content creator.
A jury of eight men and four women found 51-year-old Brand, the once in-demand star of “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,”guilty on four of the seven charges brought against him by prosecutors: one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. The actor, who denied the charges heading into prosecution, was also acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault.
The criminal charges against Brand stem from his interactions with six women in the U.K. spanning from the late 1990s to the late aughts. The jury reached its verdict after two days of deliberation.
Judge Joel Bennathan said the actor faces a “significant” prison term when he is sentenced Monday. Brand, who had been free, was taken into custody after the judge rejected the actor’s bail request to see his children, citing concerns he might flee. The actor relocated to Florida following his shift away from Hollywood.
Brand was mostly emotionless when the jury handed down its guilty verdict. He assured his attorneys he was OK after his bail was denied, telling his team, “I’m good, I’m good,” before he was taken into custody.
Russell Brand faces prosecution for multiple counts each of rape and sexual assault. His trial is underway at Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom.
“I regret the hardship caused to the children, of course,” the judge said, the Associated Press reported. “But the hardship has been caused by serious criminal offending by their father.”
Brand was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman during a birthday party at a London bar in 2004 but acquitted of orally raping her in a restroom. Jurors also found the actor guilty of kissing and groping another woman at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005 and of anally raping a fan at his home after meeting her backstage at one of his comedy shows in 2009. His final conviction was for sexually assaulting another woman who alleged the comedian demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin while filming an advertisement in 2009.
Shortly after the jury handed down its verdict, police confirmed that they provided prosecutors with investigations into two additional rape allegations against the actor.
Det. Supt. Andy Furphy of London’s Metropolitan Police said the conviction was “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them,” according to AP.
“Brand used his influence, status and fame to exploit and sexually offend against women,” he said. “As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement.”
A legal representative for Brand did not respond on Thursday to a request for comment.
British actor Russell Brand, who will stand trial this fall for charges of rape and sexual assault, tells Megyn Kelly that he had sex with a 16-year-old girl amid the peak of his fame in the early aughts.
During closing arguments on Monday, Brand’s defense attorney Ian Winter told jurors the actor is not a “psychopath who rapes people and thinks it’s normal.”
Winter also challenged the validity of the accusations against Brand, noting that “out of the many, many women that Mr. Brand had sex with during this period only three” complained they did not consent to sex with the star. The lawyer argued the women acted on their claims years after the alleged assaults and following a 2023 documentary investigation into the allegations against Brand.
The “well of justice had been corrupted and contaminated” by the documentary, he said.
The trial against Brand began Oct. 12 and saw prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones portray the comedian as ruthless, “calculating,” “manipulative” and as a “sexual predator.” Brand, ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry, maintained his innocence and later in court proceedings denied forcing any of his accusers into sexual encounters: “Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary, and indeed in may ways more important than sex itself.”
Brand was first publicly accused of sexual assault in 2023 when the Times of London and Britain’s Channel 4 published a joint investigation into allegations involving several women between 2006 and 2013. He preemptively denied the allegations in a video posted to his YouTube channel, rebutting the “very, very serious criminal allegations” about to come out against him. Another woman who said she worked on Brand’s 2011 film “Arthur” also accused the actor of sexually assaulting her on set in a lawsuit filed months later.
U.K. police first pressed charges against Brand in April 2025, accusing him of single counts of rape, indecent assault, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault involving incidents from 1999 to 2005. Prosecutors accused Brand of raping a woman in the English seaside area of Bournemouth in 1999. Officials also accused Brand of indecently assaulting a second woman in 2001, orally raping and sexually assaulting a third woman in 2004, and sexually assaulting a fourth woman between 2004 and 2005, incidents that allegedly occurred in Westminster, according to U.K. officials.
The woman, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Doe, sued Cornell University and seven men last month, saying she was given ketamine and raped at a fraternity house in 2024.
Prosecutors tacked on two additional charges — one count of rape and another count of sexual assault — against Brand in December 2025 for incidents involving two more women in 2009.
During the trial this week, Brand detailed the “devastating” toll of the allegations, claiming friends and collaborators cut ties and that no one with relevant evidence was willing to testify on his behalf. Brand’s wife, Laura Gallacher, testified, describing Brand as a devoted father. She recalled his flirtatious behavior when they met after one of his comedy shows in August 2006. She was 19 at the time and he was 31.
She also spoke about the early years of their relationship, reportedly telling the court that Brand had cheated and that she was aware of his reputation, according to Grazia. They reunited in 2015 and married two years later. The spouses share three children, including a son born in 2023. Brand claimed to jurors that the hospital where his and Gallacher‘s son underwent open-heart surgery barred the actor from staying with the child amid the allegations.
“My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations,” he said.
During cross-examination by Karmy-Jones, Brand said he spent a portion of his earlier life pursuing “beyond reckless philandering” and that he grew “comfortable” using his fame to “facilitate sexual access,” which he acknowledged “was wrong.”
Jurors also heard testimony from Brand’s ex-personal assistant and the actor’s former roommate, who spoke to Brand’s “insane sexual appetite” and ambitious sexual goals, respectively. Prosecutors also read an excerpt from Brand’s 2007 memoir, “My Booky Wook,”in which he writes, “Whether it’s a job or a woman — I will determinedly, resolutely, remove anything that’s in the way, until I possess the object of my desire.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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