Russell Brand, the comedian and podcaster whose brash persona made him a fixture of pop culture in the 2000s, said “not guilty” five times during a plea hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Friday. Prosecutors allege he raped two women, sexually assaulted two others and committed one indecent assault between 1999 and 2005, when his career was gathering pace.
The incidents are said to have taken place in London and in the seaside town of Bournemouth. Judge Tony Baumgartner fixed a four-to-five-week trial for 3 June 2026 and kept Brand on conditional bail requiring residence at his Oxfordshire home and no contact with the complainants. Brand, 49, entered court in an unbuttoned black shirt, several crucifixes around his neck and carrying a Puritan prayer book before confirming his name and answering each charge.
The case grew out of a 2023 joint investigation by Channel 4’s “Dispatches” and the Sunday Times that prompted dozens of new complaints to London’s Metropolitan Police. Detectives later handed their evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, which authorised the charges in April.
Brand has repeatedly insisted all relationships were consensual and vows to clear his name. Outside court, solicitor Oliver Schneider-Sikorsky said the performer would “robustly defend” himself, while advocacy groups hailed the prosecution as a signal that historic allegations are being taken seriously.
Legal commentators note that cases dating back decades often rely on witness testimony, personal records and contemporaneous messages rather than forensic evidence. Brand’s commercial footprint began shrinking in September 2023, when YouTube suspended advertising on his 6.6-million-subscriber channel and major brands pulled marketing from the video site Rumble. The BBC and Channel 4 have commissioned separate workplace conduct reviews, with results expected later this year.
A further case-management hearing is set for February as both sides review digital evidence, diary entries and expert reports ahead of next year’s trial.