Russell Brand was convicted of four offences against four women in London.
The comedian was cleared of two rape counts and of attempted indecent assault.
Metropolitan Police are investigating two further rape allegations against Russell Brand.
Russell Brand has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. The 51-year-old comedian and actor was convicted of four offences against four women after a jury deliberated for eight hours and 30 minutes. He is now facing what the judge described as a likely significant prison term.
Brand was found guilty of raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others. However, he was cleared of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. He had denied all the charges, arguing that some encounters were consensual and that allegations made against him in 2023 had been unfavourably reframed.
Russell Brand's rape and sexual assault convictions
The rape conviction relates to an incident in early 2009, when Brand allegedly picked a young fan from the crowd after a gig at London's Hammersmith Apollo. He was found guilty of anally raping her at his townhouse. The woman told the court she had begged him to stop, saying: “I felt like I couldn’t speak or breathe, the amount of pain,” she said.
Brand was also convicted of sexually assaulting an MTV employee at a birthday party in Soho in 2004, and a woman working at radio station Choice FM in 2004 or 2005. A third sexual assault involved a Channel 4 worker during a filming project in 2009.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC described a pattern of behaviour alleged by the women, saying: “His eyes changed; he snapped, from charming to frightening to nasty,” she said.
Russell Brand remanded in custody ahead of sentencing
Following the verdict, Mr Justice Bennathan told Brand: “You’ve been convicted of several offences, including one of rape. The consequence of that is inevitably a significant custodial term. My current view is that I have to remand you in custody therefore.”
Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, requested bail over the weekend, describing it as an “act of humanity” that would let him say goodbye to his children. The judge refused, citing concerns that Brand might not return for sentencing. Brand was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on Monday.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that its investigation is continuing. Brand is also under investigation over two further rape allegations, with files submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The verdict has renewed scrutiny of how complaints about Brand's conduct were handled during his career. Channel 4 and the BBC issued statements acknowledging the impact of the case and expressing concern over the experiences of those who had raised allegations.
