Russell Brand has entered his plea.
Over a month after London’s Metropolitan Police charged the comedian-turned-right wing influencer with rape and sexual assault for events that occurred between 1999 and 2005, he has made an appearance in court to plead not guilty.
On May 30, Brand—who shares three children with wife Laura Brand—was photographed heading into Southwark Crown Court wearing a black blazer and jeans, along with black aviator sunglasses and a loose-fitting black button up shirt with several buttons undone.
According to local media outlets, prosecutors agreed to a trial date of June 3, 2026, before Brand stood to hear his charges, which include one count of rape, one count of oral rape, one count of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault for various instances with separate women. The 49-year-old pleaded not guilty to all five charges listed, and the judge stated that his conditional bail would continue.
Brand’s not guilty plea comes after he initially spoke out to deny his charges on social media.
“I’ve always told you guys that when I was young and single, before I had my wife and family, who were just about a shot over there, my beautiful children, I was a fool, man,” he explained in a video shared to X April 4. “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.”
The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star had written a 2007 op-ed for The Guardian in which he openly admitted he did not “always treat women well,” however, he ascertained in his recent social media video that he “never engaged in non-consensual activity.”
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service began investigating Brand’s alleged rape and sexual assault following a 2023 piece in the Sunday Times—in which he was accused of rape and sexual assault—as well as receiving reports directly to them.
“The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers,” Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement. “The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
