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Actor and comic Russell Brand pleaded not responsible in a London court docket Friday to rape and sexual assault fees involving 4 girls relationship again greater than 25 years.
Brand, who turns 50 subsequent week, denied two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one depend of indecent assault. He mentioned “not guilty” after every cost was learn in Southwark Crown Court.
His trial was scheduled for June 3, 2026 and is predicted to final 4 to 5 weeks.
Prosecutors mentioned that the offenses came about between 1999 and 2005 — one within the English seaside city of Bournemouth and the opposite three in London.
Brand didn’t converse to reporters as he arrived at court docket carrying darkish sun shades, a go well with jacket, a black collared shirt open under his chest and black denims. In his proper hand, he clutched a replica of the The Valley of Vision, a group of Puritan prayers.
Actor-comedian Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court for a listening to on fees of rape, indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault involving 4 girls in London, United Kingdom on May 30, 2025. The alleged offenses occurred between 1999 and 2005 in Bournemouth and Westminster.
Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu through Getty Images
The Get Him To The Greek actor identified for risqué stand-up routines, battles with medication and alcohol, has dropped out of the mainstream media in recent times and constructed a big following on-line with movies mixing wellness and conspiracy theories, in addition to discussing faith.
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On a five-minute prayer video he posted Monday on social media, Brand wrote: “Jesus, thank you for saving my life.”
When the costs had been introduced final month, he mentioned that he welcomed the chance to show his innocence.
“I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord,” he mentioned 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 girl at a resort room in Bournemouth when she attended a 1999 Labour Party convention and met him at an occasion the place he was performing. The girl alleged that Brand stripped whereas she was within the rest room and when she returned to the room he pushed her on the mattress, eliminated her underwear and raped her.
A second girl mentioned that Brand grabbed her forearm and tried to tug her right into a males’s bathroom at a tv station in London in 2001.
The third accuser was a tv worker who met Brand at a celebration in a bar in 2004, the place he allegedly grabbed her breasts earlier than pulling her into a bathroom and forcing her to carry out oral intercourse.
The last accuser labored at a radio station and met Brand whereas he was engaged on a spin-off of the Big Brother actuality tv program between 2004 and 2005. She mentioned Brand grabbed her by the face with each palms, pushed her in opposition to a wall and kissed her earlier than groping her breasts and buttocks.
The Associated Press doesn’t title victims of alleged sexual violence, and British regulation protects their identification from the media for all times.
If you or somebody you understand is experiencing abuse or is concerned in an abusive state of affairs, please go to the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for assist. They are additionally reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
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