British actor and comedian Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on November 9 after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault at London's Southwark Crown Court.
The verdict followed a trial involving allegations made by six women over incidents dating back to 1999.
Here is a look at the case, the allegations, the trial and the verdict.
Russell Brand is a British comedian, actor and media personality who rose to prominence in the early 2000s as the host of Big Brother's Big Mouth, a spin-off of the reality television show Big Brother.
He later appeared in films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Arthur (2011) and Rock of Ages (2012). He also voiced characters in the Despicable Me and Trolls franchises.
Brand hosted The Russell Brand Show on radio and released several stand-up specials, including Scandalous, Messiah Complex and Brandemic.
In 2013, he gained attention for his political and social activism, speaking about wealth inequality, drug addiction, corporate capitalism, and climate change. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his online presence grew, while his videos attracted criticism over the promotion of COVID denialism and conspiracy theories.
In 2006, Australian singer Dannii Minogue told The Mirror Russell Brand had sexually assaulted her. According to her, the crime took place after she appeared on his TV show. "I certainly don't think he has cured his sex addiction," she said.
From 2006 to 2008, Brand received two complaints while he was a BBC radio host and presenter of both sexual misconduct and unprofessional workplace behaviour, with a further six complaints received afterwards. In 2023 BBC reported that two complaints were made against Brand when he was working as a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music. Following this, the media house announced that "urgently looking into the issues raised" by the allegations.
In 2014, former girlfriend Jordan Martin said Brand had committed sexual assault and physical and emotional abuse during their six-month relationship in 2007.
Brand's ex-wife Katy Perry has also come forward with allegations, with the pop star describing Brand's behaviour as "very controlling", and talking about what she called the "real truth" about him that she would not disclose. They were married between October 2010 and July 2012.
In September 2023, The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches published the findings of a joint investigation in which five women publicly accused Brand of sexual assault and sexual and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013.
The allegations prompted the Metropolitan Police to launch an investigation.
Brand denied the allegations and maintained that his sexual encounters had been consensual.
But in April 2026, Brand admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old girl when he was 30 during an appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show, as reported by Variety.
“And the plain fact of it is that in Europe and in the United Kingdom, where I’m from, the age of consent is 16, and I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30, but when I was 30, I was a very different person. I was a lot younger, and I was an immature 30-year-old,” he said in the interview.
He also described his past sexual conduct as selfish, saying he had given little consideration to how his actions affected others.
The admission was separate from the six-woman criminal case that subsequently went to trial at Southwark Crown Court.
In another interview with Mediaite, he said about having sex with a man in a public bathroom and then added, “I didn’t really enjoy it. My tendencies and inclinations towards women are very, very powerful. I like them very much. It’s just a biological urge.”
In April 2025, Brand was charged with five offences: rape, oral rape, indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault relating to four women between 1999 and 2005.
He appeared at Southwark Crown Court in May 2025 and pleaded not guilty.
In December 2025, he faced two further charges, rape and sexual assault, relating to two additional women in 2009. He pleaded not guilty to these charges in February 2026.
The case therefore involved six women and allegations spanning several years. Brand's trial began on October 14, 2026, at Southwark Crown Court.
On October 27, the indecent assault charge was withdrawn and replaced with a charge of attempted indecent assault. Brand pleaded not guilty to the revised charge.
After the judge summed up the evidence on November 3, the jury began its deliberations.
On November 5, the jury found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was convicted of offences involving four of the six women.
The convictions related to the following incidents:
Brand was acquitted of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
These included an allegation that he raped a woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party's annual conference in Bournemouth in 1999, and an allegation that he attempted to indecently assault a woman by dragging her into a men's bathroom at the London office of MTV.
On November 9, Judge Joel Bennathan sentenced Brand to 10 years and six months in prison.
During the sentencing hearing, the judge described Brand as a “sexual predator” and said his fame had protected him until the allegations were publicly reported in 2023.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones had described Brand as a ruthless, calculating and manipulative sexual predator who treated women as a “disposable commodity”.
She also referred to passages from his 2007 memoir, My Booky Wook, to illustrate his attitude towards sex and relationships.
Brand had maintained that he was innocent and that his encounters with the women were consensual. He was free during the trial but was taken into custody following the guilty verdict.
Though he is behind bars, he will be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence.