Russell Brand has arrived at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Monday for the start of his rape and sexual assault trial.
It begins with jury selection and could last up to 10 weeks, according to British reports, which also confirmed the heavy presence of media around the venue. The former actor, comedian and presenter was photographed arriving at the court in a grey suit and sunglasses with his wife, Laura, in the morning.
Brand, best known for his roles on Big Brother’s Big Mouth and in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is accused of three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault, with six women alleging crimes dating from 1999 to 2009.
Brand vehemently denies the charges. Since the allegations have come to light, he has turned to Christianity and been baptized. He responded to the news in a video shared on his social media last year, stating: “I’ve never engaged in nonconsensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
Detectives began investigating in September 2023 after receiving several allegations, which followed reporting by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times. One of the women told Dispatches that Brand entered a relationship with her when he was 31 and she was 16. Their relationship lasted three months, she had said, and Brand had been “emotionally abusive and controlling.” Another claimed that Brand raped her in 2012 in his L.A. home, according to The Sunday Times.
The claims against him date between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame working on Big Brother’s Big Mouth, Kings of Comedy and Big Brother’s Celebrity Hijack.
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