Russell Brand takes the stand as defence opens in London rape and sexual assault trial
The prosecution has finished presenting its case against comedian Russell Brand at Southwark Crown Court in London, and Brand has given evidence himself. He denies all charges involving six women.
The defence case has begun at Southwark Crown Court in London in the trial of British comedian and actor Russell Brand, who faces allegations of rape and sexual assault against six women. After almost two weeks of prosecution evidence, Brand, 51, took the stand on Wednesday and gave evidence to the jury.
The charges and the course of the trial
Brand is charged with three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault. The allegations date from between 1999 and 2009. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
The day before, the judge, Mr Justice Bennathan, told jurors that a charge of indecent assault had been amended to attempted indecent assault. It concerns an allegation that Brand grabbed a female MTV employee by the arm and tried to drag her into a toilet. The judge said he had concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the original charge.
The court also heard that police interviewed Brand four times: in November and December 2023, in January 2024 and in July 2025. Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones read out a prepared statement he gave police in November 2023. In it, he said he had led a very promiscuous life in the past but had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.
Brand's evidence
His barrister, Ian Winter, took him through the indictment, and Brand answered "no" when asked whether he had committed each of the offences. He told the court his entire life had been consumed by the allegations. He said that around the time of the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, which reported the claims in an investigation with The Times and The Sunday Times, his baby son needed open heart surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, and the hospital would not let him stay with the child because of the published material.
On the first complainant, who alleges she was raped after meeting him on the fringes of the Labour party conference in Bournemouth in 1999, Brand said consent was essential and that he had no doubt he obtained it. Regarding a 2004 allegation involving a bar toilet in Soho, he described the woman as enthusiastic and flirty. On the 2001 allegation involving the MTV worker, he said he had no intention of any non-consensual assault.
