British comedian-actor Russell Brand will stand before a jury in the United Kingdom this month, in the culmination of a years-long legal saga centered on his alleged history of sexual assault against multiple women in the U.K. spanning from the late 1990s through the late aughts.
The criminal trial against Brand, former star of R-rated comedies “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” began Monday at Southwark Crown Court with jury selection. The trial will proceed later this week with prosecution set to present its case against the 51-year-old actor. Brand faces a total of seven criminal charges — including three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault — stemming from his alleged interactions with six different women. The actor has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges, and his trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks, according to the Associated Press.
Brand, the ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry, was most famous during the early aughts and 2010s for films also including “Bedtime Stories,” “Despicable Me,” “Arthur,” “Rock of Ages” and “Trolls.” In recent years, he pivoted away from the Hollywood spotlight and instead turned turned his focus to religious and “free thinking” content. He has notably platformed conspiracy theories about vaccines and the 9/11 attacks.
Read on for what led up to Brand’s trial, from the scathing 2023 joint investigation by the Times of London and Channel 4, to the allegations against the ex comedian. The following includes graphic details of sexual assault.
September 2023: Times of London, Channel 4 investigation surfaces claims against Brand
English comedian-actor Russell Brand leaves Southwark Crown Court in London in 2025.
(Alastair Grant / Associated Press)
Brand played the hyper-sexual, womanizing types on-screen, but also earned a reputation for his inappropriate behavior off-screen. In 2006, Australian singer Dannii Minogue recalled a comment Brand made about her breasts and called the comedian-actor “a bit of a vile predator.” In 2012, Brand took Australian journalist Liz Hayes’ head into his hands during an interview and proceeded to kiss her face and place his hands on her body. Still, it would be more than a decade until Brand was publicly accused of sexual assault.
Brand largely faded from public consciousness after his pivot from Hollywood, but a joint investigation from the Times of London and Britain’s Channel 4 in 2023 thrust him back into the spotlight. Channel 4’s “Dispatches” news program and the Times of London reported on allegations that Brand had sexually assaulted numerous women between 2006 and 2013, during the height of his career. Brand preemptively denied the allegations in a video posted to his YouTube channel, saying that he refuted the “very, very serious criminal allegations” about to come out against him.
“The relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual,” he said at the time.
One woman accused Brand of raping her while she was pinned against a wall at his Los Angeles home in 2012, the Times of London reported. The woman received treatment at a rape crisis center, and Brand allegedly texted her to apologize for his “crazy and selfish” behavior.
Another woman said during the investigation that Brand pursued her sexually when she was 16 years old and he was 31. Brand reportedly forced his penis down her throat, making it difficult to breathe, and she fought him off by punching him in the stomach. He confirmed this relationship earlier this year, noting he felt his fame and addiction paved the way for “opportunity for endless consent which led me to be a hedonist and a fool and exploiter of women.”
The joint investigation also unearthed allegations from a woman who said she met Brand in Alcoholics Anonymous and later worked with him. She alleged Brand sexually assaulted her at his West Hollywood property before a group meeting in 2013. The Times of London story also included other allegations of workplace misconduct and inappropriate comments by Brand.
November 2023: Brand faces additional allegations of workplace sexual misconduct
Russell Brand, seen at the 2011 New York premiere of “Arthur,” allegedly sexually assaulted and exposed himself to a woman while on the film’s set.
(Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images)
Brand faced additional scrutiny in November for alleged misconduct while working on his 2011 film “Arthur” and while he served as a radio host for the BBC.
One accuser, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe,” lodged a sexual assault complaint against the actor in New York, alleging he sexually assaulted her on set in July 2010 while he “appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and was carrying a bottle of vodka on set.” She also accused Brand of exposing his genitals to her in full view of the cast and crew of “Arthur.”
Later that month, five people came forward with complaints against Brand concerning his behavior as a radio host for the BBC from 2006 to 2008. Among the complaints central to the BBC probe was an allegation that Brand exposed himself to a woman in a BBC office in Los Angeles.
April 2025: Police press first charges against Brand for sex crimes in U.K.
Brand faced official sex crime charges almost two years after the Times of London’s and Channel 4’s joint investigation. The Metropolitan Police Service in April 2025 announced the actor was charged with single counts of rape, indecent assault, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault.
Police said the counts were connected to alleged attacks on multiple women from 1999 to 2005. Prosecutors at the time accused Brand of raping a woman in the English seaside area of Bournemouth in 1999. He also allegedly indecently assaulted a second woman in 2001, orally raped and sexually assaulted a third woman in 2004 and sexually assaulted the fourth woman between 2004 to 2005. Those allegations occurred in Westminster, according to U.K. officials.
“We carefully reviewed the evidence after a police investigation into allegations made following the broadcast of a Channel 4, Sunday Times and Times investigation in September 2023,” prosecutors announced in April 2025.
Brand maintained his innocence in a a video, telling his followers that “I’ve always told you guys that when I was young, and single, before I had my wife and family … I was a fool, man.”
“I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile,” he said at the time. “But what I never was was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in nonconsensual activities. I pray you can tell that by looking in my eyes.”
He pleaded not guilty to those charges in May 2025 and a trial on those charges was initially set for June 2026. Then more charges came down.
December 2025: Brand faces additional sex crime charges
The irreverent comedian, who later became a religious content creator, was later charged with another count of rape and another count of sexual assault, stemming from allegations raised by two additional women. The alleged incidents occurred in 2009, prosecutors said. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Brand, before entering his plea earlier this year, referred to his ongoing legal battle in a video shared with social media followers. “I’ve learned in my own life that attack can bring about grace,” he said, adding that he feels grateful for the opportunity to atone for the unspecified “many things, over the years, that I did wrong.”
Ahead of 2026, Brand said in his video that “there are going to be big, staged — I don’t wanna say battles… ‘trials’ is what I’m going to call them.”
