UK actor and comedian Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

UK actor, presenter and comedian Russell Brand has been charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual assault. 

The charges by the Metropolitan Police relate to four different women. The alleged incidents took place between 1999 and 2005 in London and Bournemouth.

Brand must appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 2.

Allegations against Brand first surfaced after a joint investigation by The Times and Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ programme in 2023. At the time Brand denied the allegations and says his relationships were “always consensual”.

Brand has starred in films including Arthur (2012), Get Him To The Greek (2010), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), St Trinian’s (2007) and was the subject of a documentary by Ondi Timoner called Brand, A Second Coming, that opened the SXSW festival in 2015.