Russell Brand Charged With Two Further Sexual Offences

LEAD: U.K. actor and comedian Russell Brand, 50, appeared via videolink from his Florida home at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday and was granted bail after being charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault alleged to have occurred in London in 2009, court documents show.

CONTEXT: The new December charges were announced by the Crown Prosecution Service and follow earlier charges filed in March that accused Brand of two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault relating to alleged offences between 1999 and 2005 involving four women, according to court papers and Metropolitan Police records.

RESPONSE: The Metropolitan Police said it opened an inquiry in 2023 following investigations by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times, the Crown Prosecution Service authorized the additional counts, and Brand said in a video posted on April 4, 2025 that he had 'never engaged in non-consensual activity,' according to the video and his statement.

SCALE: Court records indicate Brand now faces criminal allegations from six women in total, with the prosecution comprising the five earlier charges plus the two new counts, and his previous not-guilty plea to the original five charges remains on file, according to the court register.

FORWARD: Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Brand that one of the new charges is indictable-only and must be tried at Crown Court, and Brand was bailed to appear at Southwark Crown Court on Feb. 17 for a pre-trial preparation hearing with the trial on the original charges expected later this year, court listings show.