Russell Brand pleads not responsible to raping and sexually assaulting two girls in 2009
Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to fresh charges of rape and sexual assault.
The 50–year–old, who is based in Florida, appeared at Southwark Crown Court this morning to deny the offences, which relate to alleged incidents in 2009.
He is alleged to have raped a woman between February 7 and March 1 and to have sexually assaulted another between August 31 and December 1, both that year.
Brand, who flew back from the US for the hearing, is due to face trial later this year in relation to the charges, both alleged to have taken place in London.
He arrived at Southwark Crown Court this morning in a black Mercedes–Benz wearing sunglasses, a white wide–brimmed hat, a tiger–print shirt open to the waist, pinstripe trousers, a large grey overcoat and several necklaces including a cross.
The former comedian, who said he found religion in early 2024, also carried a copy of the Bible with several bookmarks hanging out the top.
Asked how he felt outside court, he told reporters: ‘Blessed.’
Inside court, Brand removed the hat as he stood in the dock, holding it to his chest as he spoke to confirm his name and to enter his not guilty pleas.
Brand tried to read from his Bible as he sat waiting for the hearing to start before it was confiscated by a court officer.
Russell Brand outside Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday morning, where he is set to enter pleas to charges of rape and sexual assault
Brand, who arrived at court in a tiger–striped shirt open to the waist, already faces a trial regarding five other charges of rape and sexual assault
A trial is due to begin at Southwark Crown Court on 3 June 2026.
Mr Justice Bennathan said a further case management hearing will take place on a date to be set in late March, with Brand granted ongoing bail on the condition he provide his UK and US addresses to the court.
The former presenter and actor, of Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, is already facing one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault, relating to four separate women.
He appeared in court in May last year to plead not guilty to those five charges.
The two new charges on which he pleaded relate to two additional women.
Speaking after Brand was charged just before Christmas, Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi from the Metropolitan Police, who is leading the investigation, said: ‘The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
‘The Met’s investigation remains ongoing, and detectives urge anyone affected by this case, or anyone with information, to come forward and speak with police.’
Detectives began investigating Brand in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations, which came after reporting by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.
Brand already stands accused of raping a woman in a hotel in 1999 after they met that day at a theatrical event following the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.
He is also alleged to have raped a woman working in television whom he met in a Soho bar in 2004. He is alleged to have grabbed her breasts before pulling her into a toilet and forcing her to perform a sex act.
The born–again Christian carried a bookmarked copy of the Bible as he walked into court from the back of a Mercedes–Benz
Another woman claims she was indecently assaulted by Brand, who grabbed her arm and attempted to drag her into a male lavatory at a television station in 2001.
The presenter was working for Channel 4 on Big Brother’s Big Mouth between 2004 and 2005 when he is said to have carried out the final assault on a radio station worker.
Born–again Christian Brand denied the charges in a video posted online shortly after he was initially charged last year.
He told viewers: ‘When I was young and single, before I had my wife and family… I was a fool, man. I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile.
‘But what I never was was a rapist. I have never engaged in non–consensual activity.’
A four–week trial is scheduled to begin at Southwark Crown Court this summer.
Brand was married to Katy Perry from October 2010 until July 2012; he is now married to Laura Gallacher – sister of sports presenter Kirsty – with whom he has three children.
Prior to relocating to the US, where he frequently broadcasts on conservative–friendly video site Rumble, he was known for his stand–up comedy, TV presenting and starring roles in films such as Arthur and Get Him To The Greek.
