Russell Brand faces prison after being found guilty of rape and sexual assaults

The women told the court how Brand had forced them into sexual activity, sometimes within seconds of their first meeting. They also described how he used his fame to pursue his stated goal of having sex with 5,000 women.

Southwark Crown Court heard how Brand, who once boasted that he would not relent in his pursuit of sex until he had achieved his “birthright orgasm”, ignored women’s pleas for him to stop.

Six women gave evidence against Brand. The former comedian, who was once married to Katy Perry, called no celebrity friends or former showbusiness colleagues to give evidence in his defence.

On Thursday, a jury found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

He was cleared of two further charges of rape and one allegation of attempted indecent assault.

Brand displayed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered, closing his eyes when the jury found him guilty of rape.

He loudly replied “yes My Lord” when he was remanded into custody, having been told he would receive a lengthy sentence.

Before entering the dock to hear the verdicts, Brand told his wife, Laura Gallacher, the daughter of Ryder Cup-winning golfer Bernard Gallacher: “I love you”.

Ms Gallacher was seen to hunch over in the public gallery when Brand was told he would remain in custody ahead of sentencing.

His barrister, Ian Winter KC, asked for Brand to be granted bail over the weekend as an “act of humanity”, so he could say goodbye to his children. The judge refused, citing concerns that Brand would flee rather than return to court.

Brand faces the prospect of a lengthy prison term when he is sentenced next Monday, just over three years after allegations against him were first made public.

Police praise women who gave evidence

Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who led the Metropolitan Police investigation, paid tribute to the “extraordinary courage, resilience and determination” of the women who spoke out against Brand.

He said: “Despite intense media and public scrutiny, they relived deeply personal and traumatic experiences and placed their trust in us. Without their bravery, this outcome would not have been possible.

“Brand used his influence, status and fame to prey on and exploit women. As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement. I hope this conviction sends a clear message that no one is above the law, no matter how famous or powerful they may be.” 

In September 2023, an investigation by journalists from The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches published allegations from women who said they had been raped, sexually abused and degraded by Brand.

The revelations prompted four women to come forward to accuse Brand of criminal offences, while another two came forward after he was charged.

At the height of his success, Brand was named Shagger Of The Year three times in a row by The Sun newspaper, as his behaviour towards women was accepted and even celebrated.

But evidence at his criminal trial portrayed Brand as a man who used his fame to obtain sex while treating women as objects. His entourage and showbusiness bosses were also accused of “normalising” sexual misconduct and failing to act on complaints against the star.

The allegations and the evidence

Brand got his big television break in 2004 when he was chosen to host Big Brother’s Big Mouth. Within a couple of months of the show starting, he sexually assaulted a woman at the Nordic Bar in Soho, central London.

At a party attended by his former MTV colleagues, Brand grabbed the woman’s breasts while standing in the middle of the bar.

She accused him of dragging her to the men’s toilets and orally raping her, but the jury found Brand not guilty of that charge.

The woman told the court that the “lad culture” of the time meant she did not report her encounter with Brand to gardaí, telling the court: “He was a celebrity and it would be his word against mine.

“I just thought the odds weren’t in my favour.” 

A Capital Radio worker said Brand forced himself on her during a visit to the station in 2005, pinning her against a wall while groping and “sloppily” kissing her.

She told jurors that members of Brand’s entourage watched as the attack happened and did nothing but laugh when she looked towards them, pleading for their intervention.

A Russell Brand superfan told the court how she willingly had a threesome with the comedian in 2009 after one of his shows at the Hammersmith Apollo.

Overawed by Brand’s fame, the 21-year-old, who was in a relationship at the time, agreed to visit the star’s £2.3m Hampstead townhouse a few days later for sex.

But she said the encounter began with Brand unnervingly forcing her to strip, shower and brush her teeth before they went to bed together.

She told jurors they had “awkward” consensual sex, but Brand then forced her into anal sex and ignored her cries of pain.

Women were a “disposable commodity” to Brand, said prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC, who described him as a “sexual predator”.

“They didn’t matter to him. He didn’t even need to know their names. They were just a means to an end.” 

The fan who was raped at Brand’s home later encountered him at the Edinburgh Festival and said he apologised after she told him he had treated her “like an animal”.

In 2009, during a recording session at Channel 4, members of Brand’s entourage, Jack Bayles and Gareth Roy, forced a young female staff member to give him a massage, the court heard.

When she reluctantly agreed, Brand thrust his head into the woman’s groin and only got up when apparently insulted by her comment about his “bony” body.

“I was so repulsed by the situation,” she told the court. She said she complained to her Channel 4 bosses afterwards.

Brand was cleared of raping a woman at the Labour Party conference in 1999, after meeting her at the end of one of his cabaret shows.

He was also cleared of trying to indecently assault an MTV worker after dragging her towards a toilet at her workplace.

From television fame to online conspiracy theories

Brand was sacked by MTV after mocking 9/11. He went on to achieve wider fame through Channel 4’s Big Brother, land his own BBC Radio 2 show and star alongside actors including Tom Cruise, Mila Kunis, Jonah Hill and Helen Mirren in Hollywood films such as Arthur, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Rock of Ages.

As his stardom waned, he dabbled in left-wing politics, reinvented himself as a wellness guru and turned to podcasts focusing on alt-right talking points and conspiracy theories.

Brand’s treatment for alcohol, drug and sex addiction was largely kept out of the trial. However, the jury heard from his former personal assistant, Helen Berger, who recalled him conducting interviews in his underpants, becoming depressed after sex and treating women poorly.

She quit after growing “sick of him” and told the court that the team around Brand at the time were “normalising bad behaviour”.

Brand denied all the charges against him and suggested the case was a conspiracy orchestrated by the media.

Asked in the witness box if he blamed the media for his downfall, Brand replied: “In some ways.” 

Faced with the allegations, Brand insisted that he valued the idea of consent in sex, while struggling to remember his interactions with the women who accused him.

Brand’s defence also included arguments that the women could not have been raped because they did not run away, fight back or scream for help while being attacked.

His barrister, Ian Winter KC, also argued that Brand could not be a rapist because he had not been accused during the #MeToo movement.

Brand’s own words from his 2007 book, My Booky Wook, also came back to haunt him. He described himself as “demonically sexy” and admitted he could be “uneasy company” when pursuing sex.

He wrote: “If I want something – whether it’s a job or a woman – I will determinedly, resolutely, remove anything that’s in the way, until I possess the object of my desire.” 

Brand continued to make podcasts with his wife during the trial, telling his millions of followers on YouTube, Rumble and X that he had felt God’s presence in court.

Brand now faces sentencing on Monday and could be placed on the sex offenders’ register following his convictions.