Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault, rape, and indecent assault during a court hearing in London.
The presenter appeared at Southwark Crown Court today (May 30), facing one allegation of rape, one allegation of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault. All offences are alleged to have occurred between 1999 and 2005, and are related to four women.
Following his not guilty plea, the case will now go to trial, scheduled to begin June 3 2026.
According to a report from BBC News, Brand did not speak to reporters on his way into the court. Once inside, he stood in the glass dock and spoke to confirm his name, as well as “not guilty” to each count put to him.
He remains on conditional bail until the trial, with a pre-trial review scheduled for May 20 2026.
The charges were brought against Brand on April 4. The same day, Brand released a statement denying the allegations via Instagram. In the video, captioned “my response”, he denied all allegations made against him.
“I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was, was a rapist,” he stated. “I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes”.
He concluded: “I’m now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that”.
The TV host and actor rose to fame in the 2000s with TV shows such as Big Brother’s Big Mouth, before moving into acting and appearing in comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Get Him To The Greek (2011) and Arthur (2011).
Russell Brand is also involved in a civil suit in the US, unrelated to his charges in Britain, where he has been sued by an unnamed extra who claims he assaulted her on the set of Arthur. Studio Warner Bros, who are also named as defendants, offered outtakes from the film for use in the case.
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