Russell Brand pleads not guilty to rape, sexual assault charges
Actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court Friday to rape and sexual assault charges involving four women dating back more than 25 years.
Brand, who turns 50 next week, denied two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. He said “not guilty” after each charge was read in Southwark Crown Court.
His trial was scheduled for June 3, 2026 and is expected to last four to five weeks.
Prosecutors said that the offenses took place between 1999 and 2005 — one in the English seaside town of Bournemouth and the other three in London.
Brand didn’t speak to reporters as he arrived at court wearing dark sunglasses, a suit jacket, a black collared shirt open below his chest and black jeans. In his right hand, he clutched a copy of The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers.
The Get Him To The Greek actor known for risqué stand-up routines, battles with drugs and alcohol, has dropped out of the mainstream media in recent years and built a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories, as well as discussing religion.
On a five-minute prayer video he posted Monday on social media, Brand wrote: “Jesus, thank you for saving my life.”
When the charges were announced last month, he said that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.
“I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord,” he said in a social media video. “I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile. But what I never was was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in nonconsensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
Brand is accused of raping a woman at a hotel room in Bournemouth when she attended a 1999 Labour Party conference and met him at an event where he was performing. The woman alleged that Brand stripped while she was in the bathroom and when she returned to the room he pushed her on the bed, removed her underwear and raped her.
A second woman said that Brand grabbed her forearm and attempted to drag her into a men’s toilet at a television station in London in 2001.
The third accuser was a television employee who met Brand at a birthday party in a bar in 2004, where he allegedly grabbed her breasts before pulling her into a toilet and forcing her to perform oral sex.
The final accuser worked at a radio station and met Brand while he was working on a spin-off of the Big Brother reality television program between 2004 and 2005. She said Brand grabbed her by the face with both hands, pushed her against a wall and kissed her before groping her breasts and buttocks.
The Associated Press doesn’t name victims of alleged sexual violence, and British law protects their identity from the media for life.
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
Diddy trial: Ex-employee testifies about rapper’s violent ‘attacks’ on Cassie Ventura
NOTE: The following article contains disturbing details and video footage. Please read at your own discretion.
A woman identified only as the pseudonym “Mia,” a former assistant of Sean “Diddy” Combs, testified Thursday at his sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
She claimed that Combs physically, emotionally and sexually abused her while she worked for him.
“He’s thrown things at me. He’s thrown me against the wall. He’s thrown me into a pool. He’s thrown an ice bucket on my head,” she said, before adding that Combs also sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion.
She also spoke about the relationship between Combs and his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
“It was a cycle of highs and lows. Unequal and equal. Toxic. I’d say abusive. Like, it was abusive towards her,” she told the court.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of an indictment accusing him of a pattern of abuse toward Ventura and others.
Day 12
Mia is a former assistant and director of development and acquisitions for Revolt Films, a film production company launched under Combs’ Revolt network.
She said her first job in the entertainment industry was for Georgina Chapman at Marchesa. She later worked as a personal assistant for Canadian actor and comedian Mike Myers before she was hired by Combs, working for him from 2009 until 2017.
Mia described the work environment with Combs as “chaotic and toxic.”
“The highs were really high and the lows were really, really low,” she said.
She said that “Puff’s mood” determined what type of day they would have and that his mood shifted “all the time.”
Mia said that when she went to Combs’ apartment to meet with him for her job interview, he answered the door in his underwear before he went to put more clothes on.
She said that she was originally told she would work 40 hours a week, but said she always worked more than that. She also testified that he said her starting salary would be US$55,000 but it was actually $50,000.
Mia also said that during the first 24 hours on the job, she didn’t sleep and that there would be times when she didn’t sleep for days while working for Combs.
She also alleged that Combs asked her to do many things at once including “cracking his knuckles to writing his next movie to doing his taxes.”
Mia said she wasn’t allowed to leave Combs’ home without his permission and was not allowed to lock her door when she stayed at his home.
“This is my house, no one locks my doors,” Mia recalled Combs saying.
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During her time working for Combs,
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