Russell Brand took the witness stand at his London rape and sexual assault trial on Wednesday and denied every one of the seven charges against him, telling the jury that consent was non-negotiable for him and that the allegations have devastated his life. The 51-year-old comedian and actor was the first witness called as his defence opened at Southwark Crown Court, and at the start of about four hours of evidence his barrister put each charge to him one by one. With his hands clasped tightly behind his back, Brand answered "no", loudly and clearly, every time.
"Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary and indeed more important than sex itself," he told the court. Brand, wearing a black suit with an open-neck white shirt and a loose black tie, had arrived at court holding hands with his wife, Laura Gallacher, and told reporters outside: "I'm very grateful that today is the day for truth and justice." He said the impact of being accused had been "devastating", and that friends and colleagues have turned their backs on him. Asked by his barrister, Ian Winter KC, whether he had been able to persuade a single person with relevant evidence to come and give evidence on his behalf, Brand replied: "I have not." Asked whether they would touch him with a bargepole, he said: "No."
He told the jury he had even been barred from staying with his baby son while the child received open-heart surgery and further treatment, saying the hospital gave the material published about him as the reason. "My entire life has been consumed by these allegations," he said. "I've focused on this at the expense of my marriage, my children and health."
The seven charges involve six women and alleged incidents between 1999 and 2009, when Brand was at the height of his fame. Prosecutors say he raped a woman in a hotel room in Bournemouth in 1999 after meeting her at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference; that in 2001 he tried to drag a woman who worked at MTV into the male toilets at her workplace; that in 2004 he groped another MTV worker's breasts in a London bar and then forced her into oral sex in the toilets; that in 2004 or 2005 he kissed and groped a radio worker in front of members of his entourage; that in 2009 he sexually assaulted a television staffer during a recording project; and that in 2009 he raped a 21-year-old fan at his home. On Tuesday, the judge directed the jury to find Brand not guilty of indecent assault over the 2001 allegation, ruling there was insufficient evidence for that charge, and replaced it with attempted indecent assault, which Brand also denies.
All six women came forward to detectives after a television documentary and newspaper investigations in September 2023 carried allegations against Brand by other women, who are not part of this trial. Brand denied those allegations at the time, saying his relationships had always been consensual. He was charged with the first five offences in April 2025 and pleaded not guilty; two further charges followed in December 2025, and he denied those too.
Opening the prosecution case, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told the jury Brand was "ruthless, calculating and manipulative" and, the prosecution say, "a sexual predator". She said he had an "indiscriminate and voracious" desire for sexual contact and that "women were simply a means to an end". The six women did not know each other, she said, and came forward independently. Over the past two weeks all six have given evidence, describing, prosecutors say, a man who switched suddenly from charming to violent and then acted as if nothing had happened. The jury has also heard Brand's police interviews, in which he gave prepared statements, said he could not recall the women or the incidents, and insisted that any sexual activity he took part in was fully consensual.
In cross-examination on Wednesday, Karmy-Jones challenged that gap directly, suggesting to Brand: "You have constructed your account around some of what they said." Brand said there had been "escalating recollection" as the process went on. "It's been a deeply traumatic episode of my life," he said. "I recognise that this recollection includes small details that are not consistent and I acknowledge that."
Brand did recall some of the alleged incidents and answered them directly. Of the 1999 allegation, he said he remembered going back to the woman's hotel room, described her as "vivacious", and said he thought there was at least the possibility of sex. The woman told the court he raped her; Brand said he was inexperienced at the time and would have been asking her, "Am I doing this right? Do you like this? Is this OK? Are you enjoying this?" in order to win her approval. Asked about the 2001 allegation, he said he had never intended any non-consensual encounter: "Absolutely not." Of the 2009 allegation at his home, he said the woman consented throughout and never withdrew consent. He said he did not remember incidents involving three of the complainants, and that where he did remember, the women had either consented or events were not as they described.
He also spoke frankly about the man he used to be. "I have been persuasive, seductive, begging and flirting, and have dedicated a lot of my life to what seems now beyond reckless philandering and idiocy," he said, adding that as he became more famous he was "very comfortable allowing that to facilitate sexual access, which I agree was wrong". He said his 14-month marriage to US singer Katy Perry in 2010 had brought him "staggering fame".
Brand's evidence ended on Wednesday after further questions from his own barrister, in which he again said he was not guilty of every charge. The trial, before Mr Justice Bennathan and a jury of eight men and four women, continues on Thursday. The jury has been told it is likely to be sent out on Tuesday to consider its verdicts, and it must decide each of the seven counts separately. The six women are entitled to lifelong anonymity under British law. Brand, who now lives in the United States and has built a large online following with videos on politics, religion and free speech, remains on bail.
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