Russell Brand convicted of rape and sexual assault

Russell Brand was convicted Thursday, November 5, 2026, of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault by a jury at Southwark Crown Court in London. The jury acquitted him of two other rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. Brand was remanded in custody pending sentencing on November 9, after the judge said a significant custodial term would follow. The seven charges arose from allegations by six women concerning incidents between 1999 and 2009. The four guilty verdicts relate to offences involving four women. Brand denied all the charges and pleaded not guilty. During the trial, he maintained that his sexual encounters were consensual; the jury’s verdicts found him guilty on four counts and not guilty on the other three. The guilty rape count concerned an allegation of anal rape at Brand’s London home in 2009. The sexual-assault convictions involved incidents at a London bar in 2004, at a radio station in 2004 or 2005, and during work on a Channel 4 project in 2009. The acquitted rape counts concerned allegations from 1999 and 2004; the attempted indecent assault charge related to an allegation at MTV’s London offices in 2001. Judge Joel Bennathan...