LONDON (AP) — Russell Brand was convicted Thursday of rape and sexual assault involving four women on allegations dating back more than 20 years.
Judge Joel Bennathan said the British actor-comedian faces a “significant” prison sentence when he is sentenced on Monday. Brand was at large, but the judge denied a request for bail due to the possibility he might flee and he was taken into custody.
“I of course regret the difficulties caused to the children,” the judge said. “But the difficulties were caused by serious criminal offenses committed by their father.”
Brand was a ruthless, calculating and manipulative “sexual predator,” prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told the trial.
Brand, 51, denied the accusations and testified that he was obsessed with sex as a young man and once led a promiscuous life, but never forced anyone to do anything against their will.
He was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Brand closed his eyes as the guilty verdict on the rape charge was read, but otherwise showed no emotion. When he was denied bail, he signaled to his lawyers that he was okay and repeatedly said, “I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay,” before being led away.
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy of London’s Metropolitan Police said the conviction was “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and spoke out about what happened to them”.
“Brand used his influence, status and fame to sexually exploit and offend women,” he said. “As his profile grew, so did his sense of entitlement.”
The jury of eight men and four women at Southwark Crown Court deliberated for more than eight hours over two days.
Known for his risky stand-up shows and his battles with drugs and alcohol, Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s hosting television programs and his own radio show on the BBC. He appeared in Hollywood films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek” and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.
In recent years, he moved away from mainstream media, moved to Florida and built a large online following with videos mixing wellness, conspiracy theories and discussions of his religious devotion.
Brand was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman at a birthday party in a London bar in 2004, but was cleared of orally raping her in the toilet.
He was also convicted of kissing and groping another woman at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005 and anally raping a fan he met backstage at one of his comedy shows in 2009.
The final conviction involves the sexual assault of another woman who claims the comedian asked for a massage and pressed his face against her groin while recording a commercial in 2009.
Brand was acquitted of raping another woman in a hotel room at the Labor Party’s annual conference in the seaside town of Bournemouth in 1999, and of attempting to indecently assault a woman by dragging her into the men’s toilet at the London office of the music channel MTV.
The Associated Press does not name victims of alleged sexual violence and British law protects their identities from the media for life.
Brand said on the witness stand that the criminal case had a devastating impact on his life and family.
“My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations,” he said.
Brand’s lawyers argued that the alleged victims were weakened by the fact that they did not come forward to police until years after the alleged assaults and after the release of a 2023 documentary containing anonymous allegations against Brand.
Brand testified that his friends and colleagues abandoned him.
His wife, Laura, who accompanied him to court, testified as a character witness in his defense, but no one with relevant evidence was willing to testify on his behalf, Brand said.
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