Russell Brand charged with rape, indecent assault in UK

UK police have charged actor-comedian Russell Brand with rape and a multiple counts of assault over a number of allegations between 1999 and 2005, a statement says.

Brand, 50, the former husband of US pop singer Katy Perry and once one of the United Kingdom’s most high-profile comedians and broadcasters, had repositioned himself in recent years as an internet social commentator.

Police said Brand, who lives in Oxfordshire, southern England, was charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual assault, and that the charges relate to four separate women.

Brand is charged with the rape of a woman in 1999 in the Bournemouth area and the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in 2004 in the Westminster area of London.

He has also been charged with indecently assaulting a woman in 2001 and sexually assaulting another woman between 2004 and 2005 - both offences are alleged to have taken place in Westminster, London.

Brand said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity” after he was charged with sexual offences, including rape.

In a video posted on X, Brand said: “I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes”.

“I want to thank all of you for your continuing support,” he added.

“Of course I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”

Police said the “Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police”.

Brand will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 2.

In 2023 the Sunday Times newspaper and Channel 4 TV’s documentary show Dispatches reported that four women had accused Brand of sexual assaults, including a rape, between 2006 and 2013.