Brand Testifies Trial Over Consent Claims

LONDON: Russell Brand told a court on Wednesday that he had spent much of his life on what he called reckless philandering and idiocy, and said consent is not something that can be negotiated. He was giving evidence at Southwark crown court, where he faces charges involving six women.

The comedian and actor, 51, denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one attempted indecent assault. The allegations date from 1999 to 2009. He told the jury he had been in a position of fame and had allowed that to provide sexual access, adding that he agreed it was wrong.

Brand spent about four hours in the witness box. He was asked about a 1999 rape allegation tied to a fringe event at the Labour Party conference. Discussing that charge, he told his lawyer Ian Winter that consent is fundamental, essential, necessary and more important than sex itself.

Prosecutors finished presenting their case earlier on Wednesday and have described Brand as a sexual predator. Their allegations include an incident in toilets at a London bar in 2004, an incident at a radio station in 2004 or 2005, an attempt to pull a woman into male toilets at MTV Europe in London in 2001, a 2009 allegation at his home, and an allegation involving a woman working at Channel 4 on a recording project.

Brand said he does not remember events involving three of the women. He recalled details about two other allegations and said either the women had consented or the incident was not as described. He said he could not provide recollections from police interviews conducted between 2023 and 2025.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones asked why he had previously told police he could not recall the women or the incidents, and suggested he had built his account around what they said. Brand said his recollections had grown during the process and called the trial a deeply traumatic episode of his life.

The jury has heard that the complainants came forward to detectives after a documentary aired in 2023, along with newspaper articles containing anonymous allegations from women who are not part of the case. Brand said the impact had been devastating. He agreed with Winter that his friends would now not touch you with a bargepole.

Brand said his 14-month marriage to Katy Perry in 2010 brought him staggering fame. He also said a hospital would not let him stay with his son after open heart surgery. The trial continues.