Comedian Russell Brand, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters, faces a lengthy jail term after being convicted in a London court on Thursday of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others.
Following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, the jury found the 51-year-old guilty of one count of rape and three sexual assaults committed between 2004 and 2009. He was acquitted of two other rape charges and an attempted indecent assault.
Judge Joel Bennathan refused Brand bail, confirming that he would be sentenced on Monday with a long prison term.
Brand, the former husband of US pop singer Katy Perry and star of Hollywood films “Get Him to the Greek” and “Arthur”, had denied all the charges. He told the court the incidents, which date back more than 20 years, were either consensual or had been reinvented or re-imagined. He admitted dedicating much of his life to “reckless philandering and idiocy” but said that sexual consent was fundamental.
Prosecutors described him as obsessed with sex and said he used women to satisfy his own desires. “The evidence showed Brand to be a calculated sexual predator, using his growing fame and power to create situations in which he could pursue women sexually, regardless of what they wanted,” senior Crown prosecutor David Roberts said outside court.
The court heard tearful and forceful testimony from six complainants, who are entitled to lifelong anonymity. None of them knew one another, but all went to police after a TV documentary and press reports in 2023 in which other women made separate allegations against Brand. Those women were not involved in the trial.
The complainants described a sudden change in his demeanour during their encounters, saying he became wide-eyed and maniacal. One said he grabbed her breasts less than a minute after they met at a party, while another said he treated her “like an animal”.
A former friend told the court that Brand had bragged about wanting to sleep with 5,000 women. His former personal assistant, Helen Berger, who worked for him from 2006 to 2007, said in a witness statement that he had “an insane sexual appetite”.
Brand rose to prominence in Britain hosting a spin-off show to “Big Brother” on Channel 4 and became a fixture on television and radio during the 2000s. He married Perry in 2010, but the marriage ended after 14 months. Detective Inspector Laura Nelson, who led the investigation, said Perry had not been approached as a potential witness.
In later years, Brand moved away from mainstream work and built a large social media following as an anti-establishment commentator. He was baptised as a Christian in 2024, after the allegations first became public.
Police said he is still under investigation over two other alleged rapes, one involving a then 16-year-old girl. Nelson said she expected other women to come forward.
“I hope this conviction sends a clear message that no one is above the law, no matter how famous or powerful they may be,” said Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of London police.
Brand is among the most prominent British celebrities convicted of sex offences in recent times, following BBC newsreader Huw Edwards, who admitted making indecent images of children, and entertainer Rolf Harris, who was found guilty of assaulting young girls in 2014.
