Comedian and actor Russell Brand was sentenced Monday to 10 years and six months in prison for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others, closing a case that has trailed him since 2023. Judge Joel Bennathan imposed the term at London’s Southwark Crown Court, where Brand, 51, stood in the dock.
He will serve two thirds in custody before release on licence and will remain on the sex offenders’ register for life. A jury convicted him last Thursday of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault after a four-week trial. Jurors cleared him of two other rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. The rape conviction carries a maximum of life, and each sexual assault count a maximum of 10 years.
The judge described Brand as a “sexual predator” and linked the offenses to the power his fame gave him. He also stated that women keep the right to refuse no matter what they wear, where they go or what they drink. He praised the Metropolitan Police for its evidence gathering and its care for the women who testified.
Before sentencing, four of the women gave impact statements. Prosecutors read three aloud, and a fourth woman delivered hers in person from behind a curtain. British law grants lifelong anonymity to complainants in sexual offense cases. Brand held white rosary beads as the statements were read, press accounts from inside the room said. His wife, Laura, and his father attended.
The defense told the court Brand is a fundamentally different person from the man who committed the crimes. Brand has said all his encounters were consensual, and he cast his defense in religious terms during a video after he was charged, saying he lived a life of drugs and excess before turning to faith. Outside court, his father rejected the verdict to Sky News, asking which victims the case involved. The family has not said whether Brand will appeal the convictions or the sentence.
The case began in September 2023 with a joint investigation by Channel 4’s “Dispatches” and The Sunday Times, which detailed accusations from several women. Police later brought charges covering encounters from the 1999 to 2009 period, involving four women. Brand rose to fame as a stand-up and television presenter and starred in films such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek.” More recently, he built a following with a right-leaning online show.
