Russell Brand issues plea on further rape, sexual assault charges
Actor and comedian Russell Brand appeared in court Tuesday for a plea hearing related to further charges of rape and sexual assault issued against him in December 2025.
Wearing a leopard-print shirt, Brand pleaded not guilty in London's Southwark Crown Court to two charges of sexual assault, including one of rape, stemming from alleged incidents that happened nearly two decades ago.
In December of last year, the U.K.'s Metropolitan Police announced the Crown Prosecution Service authorized the further charges against Brand concerning two additional women on top of the four women involved in prior charges, which were issued against Brand in April 2025.
In the April 2025 charges against Brand, the actor was charged with one count of rape and one count of oral rape, one count of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault regarding incidents from around two decades ago, according to the Met Police.
The Metropolitan Police noted in a December release recapping all charges against Brand that detectives began investigating Brand in 2023 after reporting on Brand by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times led to several allegations.
A statement from the Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi in a December release read, "The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers."
In May of 2025, Brand pleaded not guilty to the initial five charges and will stand trial on those charges in June.
Brand responded to the initial charges on social media in April, saying, "I've always told you guys that when I was young and single, before I had my wife and family ... I was a fool, man, 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. I've never engaged in nonconsensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes."
He then thanked his supporters, adding that he is "incredibly grateful" to defend the charges in court.
In addition to acting and comedy, Brand has worked as a political commentator and wellness influencer.
He was previously married to singer Katy Perry from 2010 until their divorce in 2012. Brand married Laura Gallacher in 2017. The couple has three children.
ABC News has reached out to a lawyer for Brand for a comment.
