A woman known only as “Alice” in a 2023 media investigation has given up her legal anonymity to accuse Russell Brand of raping her when she was 16. Mia Latter, now 37, identified herself in an interview with The Sunday Times published Saturday. She says the comedian, then 30, raped her during a three-month relationship that began after they met near Leicester Square in 2006. She told the paper her aim is to campaign for a staggered age of consent, a change she believes would stop adults from pursuing relationships with teenagers under 18.
Latter’s account first reached the public in the 2023 investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, which used the pseudonym. She now says Brand showed no hesitation when she told him her age. According to her, he said only that he needed to know where he stood legally.
Her allegation sits outside the case that put Brand in prison. A London jury convicted him of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving other women, and a judge sentenced him on November 9 to ten and a half years. Brand pleaded not guilty at trial. Reports of Latter’s interview did not include a response from him.
Latter reported her allegation to the Metropolitan Police. She has told reporters she has chosen not to pursue the criminal process and will focus on changing the law instead. The force says it opened its investigation in January 2026 and that it remains ongoing.
The legal question she raises is a live one in Britain. The age of consent is 16 across the UK, with exceptions that make sex illegal where an adult holds a position of trust over someone under 18. Latter’s proposal would add tiers based on the gap between partners’ ages. Neither the government nor ministers had commented on her proposal in the coverage reviewed.
Her decision to speak in her own name follows the conviction and the heavy attention it drew, including criticism of public figures who rushed to defend Brand. Former Royal Ballet dancer Sergei Polunin was among those who faced a backlash after backing the comedian.
