Russell Brand was charged with rape and sexual assault in the United Kingdom on Friday.
The 49-year-old comedian, actor, and podcast host is specifically charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault, according to London’s Metropolitan Police. He will appear in court on May 2nd.
A 2023 joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches in the UK uncovered allegations of rape, sexual assault, and abuse against Brand, involving four women in incidents between 1999 and 2012. The Metropolitan Police later launched a criminal investigation into Brand in late 2023.
“The 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,” Met Police detective superintendent Andy Furphy said in a statement on Friday.
Related Video
Brand has denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement released in 2023: “These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well.”
Brand has also suggested that the allegations are part of a coordinated attack against him over his commentary against big pharma and the COVID-19 vaccine.
“To see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question – is there another agenda at play? I don’t mind them using my books and my stand-up to talk about my promiscuous consensual conduct in the past. What I seriously refute are these very, very serious criminal allegations.”
