Russell Brand told police all sexual encounters were consensual, court hears; cleared of one indecent assault count, he faces a new attempted indecent assault charge in trial involving six women |
British comedian and actor Russell Brand told police that he had never engaged in any non-consensual sexual activity, despite having sexual encounters in “countless locations and scenarios”, a London court heard on Tuesday.Brand, 51, is standing trial at Southwark Crown Court over allegations of sexual offences involving six women between 1999 and 2009. The former husband of singer Katy Perry has denied the allegations.According to Reuters, prosecutors read out statements Brand gave to police during four interviews conducted between September 2023 and July 2025. In the statements, Brand rejected the allegations and claimed that media reports about him had encouraged further accusations.“I have never engaged in any non-consensual sexual activity,” Brand said in one of the statements read to the court.
Russell Brand says past sexual encounters were consensual
In his statements to police, Brand described himself as having been highly promiscuous in the past, adding that he had since denounced that behaviour. He said he had engaged in sexual encounters in toilet cubicles at parties and in various other locations, often with people he had only just met.“Those encounters were always consensual,” he said.Brand also described a documentary broadcast in 2023 and newspaper reports containing allegations against him as “defamatory and fictitious”. He claimed that the reports had prompted further allegations and led to past incidents being “reinvented or reimagined”.The allegations against Brand emerged after a documentary and newspaper investigations in 2023. The six women subsequently came forward to detectives, and their allegations have been presented to the jury during the trial.
Judge changes one charge against Russell Brand
In a significant development on Tuesday, the judge directed the jury to return a not-guilty verdict on one count of indecent assault. Brand will instead face a charge of attempted indecent assault relating to the same alleged incident.The allegation concerns a woman who was working at MTV Europe in London in 2001. She alleges that Brand grabbed her and tried to pull her into a men’s toilet. Brand has denied the allegations against him, including the amended charge.Brand is accused of three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving six women. The prosecution has alleged that he targeted women in different settings, including a hotel room, a bar, workplaces and his home.
What are the allegations against Russell Brand?
The allegations span a decade, from 1999 to 2009. They include an accusation that Brand raped a woman after meeting her at an event during the Labour Party conference in 1999.Another woman alleges that he forced her to perform oral sex in a toilet at a London bar in 2004. A further allegation concerns an alleged assault at a radio station in 2004 or 2005.The case also includes the allegation involving the former MTV worker in 2001 and a woman who alleges that Brand anally raped her at his home in 2009 after she had agreed to consensual sex.The final allegation relates to a woman who worked at Channel 4 during a recording project. She alleges that Brand pressured her into giving him a massage and put his head between her legs.Brand denies the allegations. The prosecution has presented its case, and the comedian is expected to begin setting out his defence on Wednesday.
