LONDON (AP) — Russell brand admitted in a London court on Wednesday that he had been obsessed with sex when he was younger, but denied several rape and sexual assault chargessaying the claims had a “devastating” impact on his life.
The British actor and comedian appeared at Southwark Crown Court alongside his wife, Laura Gallacher, to give evidence in his own defence, telling reporters that “today is the day of truth and justice”.
Brand, 51, took the witness stand and took the oath, then gave his full name: Russell Edward Brand. He answered “no” to each accusation while his lawyer, Ian Winter, asked him if he was guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Brand denied forcing any of the six alleged victims to do anything against their will.
“Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary and, in many ways, more important than sex itself,” Brand said.
Brand said the allegations had a “devastating” impact, with his friends and colleagues abandoning him. He said no one with relevant evidence was willing to testify in court on his behalf.
“My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations,” he said, later adding that dealing with these “traumatic” allegations had come “to the detriment of my marriage, my children and my health.”
Brand said he was even banned from staying with his baby in the hospital after anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him in a newspaper and television documentary in 2023.
“The reason given by Great Ormond Street Hospital when my son was undergoing open heart surgery and subsequent treatment was due to the documents released,” he said.
Six women accuse Brand of misconduct
During the final two weeks of the trial, prosecutors state their case and the jury heard from six women who accused Brand of sexual misconduct between 1999 and 2009.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told jurors that Brand was “ruthless, calculating, manipulative. And, according to the prosecution, he was a sexual predator.”
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.
The allegations cover a decade in which Brand went from rising comedian to major celebrity in the UK.
The first victim claims Brand raped her in a hotel room at the Labor Party’s annual conference in the seaside town of Bournemouth in 1999. Another woman claims that in 2001 Brand tried to drag her into the men’s toilet at the London office of music channel MTV, where she worked.
A third woman claims that Brand orally raped her in 2004 in the toilet of a London bar, and a fourth claims that Brand kissed and groped her at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005.
Another plaintiff claims Brand anally raped her at his home after meeting him at one of his shows in 2009, while the sixth alleges the comedian asked for a massage and pressed his face against her groin while filming a commercial in 2009.
Prosecutors say the women do not know each other and went to police separately after the television documentary aired in 2023. The Associated Press does not name victims of alleged sexual violence and British law protects their identities from the media for life.
Brand says all encounters were consensual
Under cross-examination by Karmy-Jones, Brand acknowledged that he had devoted much of his earlier life to “beyond reckless flirtations.”
“As I became more successful and famous, I was very comfortable allowing it to facilitate sexual access, which I agree with you was wrong,” he said.
He answered “yes” when asked if he had been obsessed with sex when he was younger, but “no” when the prosecutor asked: “Do you accept that you desperately need it and that sometimes you can’t function without it?”
As he finished a day on the stand, Brand was asked again if he committed the crimes he is accused of.
“I plead not guilty in each case,” he said.
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