Opening of the trial

Russell Brand, a 51-year-old British comedian and actor, went on trial on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, at Southwark Crown Court in London. He faces three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault, with allegations from six women. Brand denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty. He attended in person with his wife Laura, and the trial is scheduled to run until December.

The prosecution's case

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC opened the case by describing Brand as a predator who used humour and charm in a constant pursuit of sex.

He was ruthless, he was calculated, and he was manipulative, and the prosecution say - a sexual predator.

She told jurors that Brand would tell women what they wanted to hear and appeared to take an interest in causes they promoted. A court also heard that he had boasted about wanting to bed 5,000 women in his lifetime. The alleged offences took place in a hotel room, at workplaces, in a bar toilet and at Brand's home. The prosecutor said the six women did not know one another and had come forward independently. Describing his conduct, she said:

His desire for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious.

The complainants' accounts

The first complainant says she met Brand in 1999 at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, before he was famous, and that he later raped her in a hotel room. When police questioned Brand about that allegation, he said that if it happened he did not remember the incident, according to the prosecution. A second complainant, who worked for a television broadcaster, says Brand indecently assaulted her in a toilet, grabbing her forearm when she tried to pull away. A third woman says that after meeting her at a party in 2004 he grabbed her breasts within a minute, and that later, while they were driving to another venue, he exposed himself. One alleged victim says he told her "don't be a spoilsport" when she tried to stop him.

Brand's response

Brand, who lives in Florida and is on bail, presents himself as a committed Christian. On arriving at court he told reporters that he felt blessed and was concerned but hopeful the process would end well for everyone involved. Karmy-Jones acknowledged that he was not necessarily the same man he had been at the time, but said his responsibility for offences committed when he was younger remained the same. The defence will set out its case later in the trial, which is scheduled to run until December.