RUSSELL BRAND IN COURT: RAPE DENIAL AS 2026 TRIAL SET

Russell Brand pleads not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges at Southwark Crown Court; trial set for June 2026.

Russell Brand has formally entered pleas of not guilty to a series of serious sexual offences alleged by four women, during a brief but closely scrutinised hearing at Southwark Crown Court this morning. The 48-year-old comedian and podcaster, now based in the United States, is accused of rape, sexual assault, and indecent assault in connection with alleged incidents said to have occurred between 1999 and 2005, during a period in which Brand’s public profile was steadily rising across the British media landscape.

The allegations span a six-year timeframe and include accusations involving women said to have encountered Brand during both political and entertainment industry events. Chief among them is an allegation of rape said to have taken place in 1999, shortly after the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.

The complainant in that matter alleges she met Brand at a theatrical event following the conference, and that he later raped her in a hotel. A further charge relates to a second woman, reportedly working in television at the time, who alleges that in 2004, after meeting Brand in a Soho bar, he groped her breasts, dragged her into a toilet and forced her to perform a sex act.

A third complainant states that she was indecently assaulted in 2001 when Brand allegedly attempted to pull her into a male lavatory at a television station, grabbing her arm without consent. The final set of allegations are said to have taken place between 2004 and 2005 during Brand’s time as a presenter on Big Brother’s Big Mouth, a spin-off show aired on Channel 4. In that instance, Brand is accused of sexually assaulting a woman employed at a radio station.

Arriving shortly before 10am in a black Mercedes Benz, Brand was photographed and filmed by a significant media presence as he entered the court building. Dressed in an open black and white pinstripe shirt, wearing multiple pendants including two crosses, and clutching a hardback prayer book titled The Valley of Vision, he made no statement or acknowledgment of the journalists and photographers calling his name as he walked past them. Inside court, he appeared composed and silent, standing in the dock flanked by two security officers.

Represented by solicitor Oliver Schneider-Sikorsky