Russell Brand was found guilty on Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, ending a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London that heard allegations spanning a decade of the comedian’s rise to fame.
Key Points
- A jury convicted Brand, 51, of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women.
- He was acquitted of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.
- Brand was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Monday, November 9, with the judge warning of a “significant” prison term.
- Police are still investigating two further rape allegations, including one involving a then 16-year-old girl.
The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for more than eight hours over two days before returning its verdicts. Brand, who closed his eyes but showed no emotion as the verdicts were read, had denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all seven charges. His wife, Laura, watched from the public gallery.
The trial covered three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault, brought by six women and spanning the years 1999 to 2009 — the period in which Brand rose from performing stand-up in small venues to becoming a BBC Radio 2 presenter and a Hollywood film star. Prosecutors said Brand, who had bragged for years about his sexual exploits, was obsessed with sex and used women to satisfy his own desires. The court heard the assaults took place in a hotel room, MTV’s London office, the bathroom of a London bar, a radio station, a recording studio and at his own home.
A career built, then broken
Brand was once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters, the star of films including “Get Him to the Greek” and “Arthur”, and briefly the husband of US pop star Katy Perry. In recent years he had reinvented himself as a conservative religious online guru with a large social media following.
That reinvention is now over. The Crown Prosecution Service authorised the first charges in April 2025 after a Metropolitan Police investigation, and the trial began on October 12. Judge Joel Bennathan refused Brand bail after the verdicts, telling the court that “obviously a custodial sentence of some length will result.”
Under sentencing guidelines for rape, the range is four to 19 years in custody, although the maximum sentence in England and Wales is life imprisonment. The judge must also decide how to sentence Brand for the three sexual assault convictions, and whether those sentences should run at the same time as the rape sentence or one after another.
What happens next
Sentencing is set for Monday, November 9. Legal experts estimate Brand could receive a sentence in the region of eight or nine years, although the final decision rests with the judge. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that an investigation into complaints from two other women is ongoing, with files sent to the Crown Prosecution Service — meaning further charges remain possible even after sentencing.
Sources: Reuters via The Express Tribune — https://tribune.com.pk/story/2638835/russell-brand-found-guilty-by-uk-court-of-rape-and-sexual-assaults ; USA Today — https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/11/05/russell-brand-trial-verdict-guilty-rape-sexual-assault/92587752007/