Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault against four women and is set to stand trial next June.
The 49-year-old comedian-turned-online activist is accused of a string of alleged attacks across six years, including an allegation that he raped a woman at the Labour Party conference.
Appearing in front of Judge Tony Baumgartner, the Recorder of Westminster, at Southwark crown court on Friday, Brand pleaded not guilty to all five charges he faces.
The judge set a trial for June 3 next year, in a hearing last just over ten minutes.
Brand was flanked by a squad of Metropolitan Police officers and accompanied by his lawyer and entourage as he arrived at the central London courthouse at just after 9.45am.
Wearing sunglasses, a black jacket, and a black shirt unbuttoned to reveal jewellery and his bare chest, Brand walked past photographers and reporters without commenting.
He entered the secure dock in courtroom two at 10.25am.
Brand faces two counts of rape, two charges of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault, in charges which stretch between 1999 and 2005.
It is alleged he raped a woman at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999 after they met at an event he was performing at, where he accompanied her to her hotel room and allegedly attacked her on the bed.
Brand is accused of trying to drag a TV worker into a toilet in 2001 by “grabbing her forcefully by the forearm”.
When he was a presenter on reality TV show Big Brother, he is alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman by “sloppily” kissing her and groping her breasts.
And Brand is accused of orally raping a woman in the toilet of a Soho bar after allegedly “grabbing her breasts”.
The former Hollywood star has used his online platforms to deny claims of rape and sexual abuse, saying he welcomes the opportunity of a criminal trial to clear his name.
“I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes”, he told his followers.
At Westminster magistrates court earlier this month, Brand appeared briefly in the dock for Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring to send the case to the crown court. Brand did not enter any pleas at that stage.
In court at Southwark on Friday, he spoke to confirm his name and to say ‘not guilty’ five times as the charges were put to him.
Judge Baumgartner set a timetable for the preparation of Brand’s trial, and agreed special measures for the alleged victims when giving their evidence, including the use of video recordings and screens in court. A pre-trial hearing was set for May 20.
Brand was set free on conditional bail until his trial.
Brand, who now lives in the US but has given an address in Henley-on-Thames to the court, was charged in April after a Metropolitan Police investigation.
Ahead of his first court hearing, he posted a YouTube video saying: “If you were a member of the Labour Party, that's the governing party in my country the United Kingdom, you would want an inquiry into rape gangs so that you could be entirely exonerated. It's the same with me.
“I want a trial because I know that I'm innocent. I know I'm a broken sinner and a wretched hopeless individual, but I know I'm innocent. So an examination - a thorough and intrepid examination - which establishes that innocence in the eyes of everybody, I welcome it. What a relief it will be.”
Detectives began investigating Brand in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations, which followed reporting by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.
At the height of his fame, Brand was the star of Hollywood films, a sought-after stand-up comedian, and a regular presence on Channel 4 and the BBC.
He presented a BBC Radio 2 show between 2006 and 2008, but left the role after an on-air prank, now known as Sachsgate, when he left a “lewd” voicemail for Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter.
Brand also presented on Big Brother spin-off shows Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack in the noughties.
The TV and film star was married to US pop singer Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012 but is now married to Laura Gallacher, the sister of presenter Kirsty, and the pair have two children, Mabel and Peggy.
He is being represented in criminal proceedings by Ian Winter KC, while the prosecuting barrister is Riel Karmy-Jones KC.
Brand made no comment again as he left the courthouse at 11.13am, getting into a waiting car with his security guard.
