Russell Brand Charged With Rape, Sexual Assault
Russell Brand has been charged with rape, indecent assault, and sexual assault stemming from incidents with four women in the U.K. between 1999 to 2005.
The Metropolitan Police announced the charges Friday and provided details about the allegations against Brand. According to police — who opened the investigation into the actor in Sept. 2023 — Brand is accused of raping one woman near Bournemouth, England in 1999, indecently assaulting a second woman in 2001, orally raping and sexually assaulting a third woman in 2004, and sexually assaulting a fourth woman between 2004 and 2005; the latter three incidents all allegedly occurred in the Westminster area of London.
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'We have today authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge Russell Brand with a number of sexual offenses,' Jaswant Narwal of the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
'We carefully reviewed the evidence after a police investigation into allegations made following the broadcast of a Channel 4 documentary in September 2023. We have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with offenses including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault.'
'The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers,' Metropolitan Police's detective superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said Thursday (via the BBC). 'The Met's investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.'
Brand — who is believed to be in the United States presently — was ordered to appear at the Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 2.
Narwal added, 'The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.'
The London police force launched the sex crimes investigation following assault allegations against Brand in Sept. 2023 following reporting in The Times UK and Channel 4's investigative show Dispatches, where the allegations against Brand first appeared. Police reportedly received 'a number of allegations of sexual offenses' after the comedian was accused by four women of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse.
Before the article published and the episode released, Brand preemptively defended himself on social media against forthcoming 'extremely egregious and aggressive attacks' that he 'absolutely refutes.'
Following the allegations, Brand was dropped by his talent agency, Tavistock Wood, which was tangentially tied to one of the allegations made against Brand. The woman who said she was in a three-month relationship with Brand when she was 16, and accused him of being 'emotionally and sexually abusive,' said she went to Tavistock Wood in 2020 with her allegations, seeking an apology. Instead got a letter from Brand's lawyer accusing her of seeking money; it's unclear if that accuser is one of the victims tied to the charges against Brand.
Along with being dropped by his agency, Brand's U.K. publisher, Bluebird, decided to pause all book releases related to the actor and comedian.
In a video statement following the accusations against him, Brand called the allegations a 'collaboration between big tech and legacy media organizations to target, control, choke and shut down independent media organizations like this one.'
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