Russell Brand was convicted of rape.
After two days of deliberations, the jury at Southwark Crown Court in London returned a verdict on seven sexual offense charges, concluding that Forgetting Sarah Marshall star guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
He was found not guilty of two other counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault, which was reduced to indecent assault during the trial. Brand has strongly denied all accusations, based on allegations made by six women. The charges and verdicts are detailed below.
Judge Bennathan told Brand he would receive a “significant prison sentence” and he was remanded in custody until sentencing on Monday.
The verdicts were read silently in the courtroom after the judge asked those present not to react to the jury’s decisions. Deadline has been carrying a daily live video feed from the courtroom since the trial began about a month ago. This was originally supposed to take at least six weeks, but it took less than four weeks.
Over the past month, the court has heard from all the accusers, who are entitled to anonymity for life. Deadline can report, however, that three of the complainants Brand was convicted of sexually assaulting worked in the television and radio industry, including former employees of MTV and Channel 4.
All the accusers came forward after seeing allegations about Brand in a Channel 4 documentary in 2023 and reading articles about him in Time.
Brand’s defense argued that this documentary “deliberately poisoned the well of justice” and “fundamentally corrupted” his accusers, while having a “truly devastating effect” on Brand’s life.
The prosecution said the expose was not a “magical force” that caused six separate women to “recast” their memories, but that it caused them to come forward and tell stories about their encounters with Brand that had “haunted them for years.”
The allegations span from 1999 to 2009, a period that saw Brand go from unknown actor to, in his own words, “staggering fame” after he began dating superstar Katy Perry.
Charge 1, Complainant 1: Rape
Complainant 1 alleged that she was raped by Russell Brand after meeting him on the sidelines of the Labor Party conference in 1999. C1 invited Brand back to his hotel room and alleged that he pushed her onto the bed and raped her. Brand, who was not famous in 1999, claimed the encounter was consensual.
Verdict: Not guilty
Charge 2, Complainant 2: Attempted indecent assault
Complainant No. 2, a former MTV employee, accused Brand of trying to drag her into the toilet at the channel’s London offices in 2001. During the trial, Judge Bennathan reduced the charge from indecent assault to attempted indecent assault because there was “insufficient evidence” to support the original charge. Brand’s defense was that he did not remember the incident, but denied attempting any non-consensual assault.
Verdict: Not guilty
Charge 3, complainant 3: sexual assault
Complainant 3 alleged that Brand “lunged and squeezed” her breasts minutes after they first met in 2004, while she attended a TV producer’s birthday party at London’s Nordic Bar. Brand denied sexually assaulting Complainant 3, who worked at MTV at the time.
Verdict: Guilty
Charge 4, Complainant 3: Rape
Complainant 3 alleged that Brand grabbed her arm and dragged her to the bathroom at Nordic Bar. The woman claimed Brand climbed onto the toilet seat, exposed himself, forced his penis into her mouth and ejaculated. In his defense, Brand argued that Complainant 3 happily accompanied him to the bathroom, where they had “a kiss and a hug.” He denied orally raping the woman.
Verdict: Not guilty
Charge 5, complainant 4: sexual assault
Complainant 4 alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Brand at a radio station in 2004 or 2005. She claimed that Brand “grabbed” her, pushed her against a wall and kissed her “carelessly and aggressively.” Brand denied the incident.
Verdict: Guilty
Charge 6, Complainant 5: Rape
Complainant No. 5 alleged that she was anally raped by Brand at his London home in 2009, days after meeting him backstage at his stand-up show, where she performed consensual oral sex on him. Complainant 5 said they had consensual vaginal sex at her home, before alleging that Brand put her on all fours and unexpectedly penetrated her anally, removing his condom. Brand said the anal sex was consensual.
Verdict: Guilty
Charge 7, complainant 6: sexual assault
A former Channel 4 employee, Complainant 6, alleged that Brand asked for a massage and put his head in the area of his genitals during a workplace incident in 2009. Brand told the court he did not remember the incident.
Verdict: Guilty
Gn entert
