Latest news with #FawltyTowers'
Kuwait Times
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Comedian Russell Brand pleads not guilty to rape, sexual assault charges
British comedian and actor Russell Brand pleaded not guilty Friday at a London criminal court to five charges of sexual offences including rape and sexual assault. The media personality turned anti-establishment influencer faces one count of rape, one of oral rape, two of sexual assault and one of indecent assault between 1999 and 2005, involving four women. Crowds were waiting as Brand, 49, arrived at Southwark Crown Court in an open-buttoned shirt and dark blazer for the plea hearing, after being granted conditional bail at a previous hearing. He gained international recognition as the husband of pop star Katy Perry, but is better known in the UK for his hyper-sexualized and often lewd comedy routines and TV and radio appearances in the early 2000s. Now living partly in the US, Brand appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London earlier this month, where he showed no emotion as a prosecutor read out allegations against him. On Friday Brand appeared in the dock flanked by two officers, where he stood stock-still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas. He is now due to stand trial next year, on June 3, 2026. Prosecutors charged Brand following a police probe into allegations aired in a 2003 Channel 4 documentary. He is accused of raping one woman in a hotel room following an event in the southern Bournemouth area in 1999. Another charge relates to the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in 2004 in central London. The accusations involve four women, including one who was a TV worker, and another who was a radio station worker at the time of the alleged assaults. In a video response on X after he was charged in April, Brand said he was 'grateful' for the 'opportunity' to defend himself. Conservative guru 'I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was was a rapist. I've never engaged in non-consensual activity,' he said in the video. Born in 1975 to working-class parents in Essex, east of London, Brand began his stand-up career as a teenager, eventually working as an MTV presenter and host of a Big Brother spin-off. He presented a show on the BBC's Radio 2 station between 2006 and 2008, but quit after an on-air prank when he left a sexually explicit voicemail for 'Fawlty Towers' actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter. Once a left-leaning political campaigner and Hollywood star, he has rebranded himself as a conservative guru to his millions of social media followers. Brand often peddles in conspiracy theories, as well as sharing wellness tips, in his anti-establishment videos. Last year, he said he became a Christian after being baptized in the Thames river. — AFP
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Comedian Russell Brand pleads not guilty to rape, sexual assault charges
LONDON: British comedian and actor Russell Brand pleaded not guilty Friday at a London criminal court to five charges of sexual offences including rape and sexual assault. The media personality turned anti-establishment influencer faces one count of rape, one of oral rape, two of sexual assault and one of indecent assault between 1999 and 2005, involving four women. Crowds were waiting as Brand, 49, arrived at Southwark Crown Court in an open-buttoned shirt and dark blazer for the plea hearing, after being granted conditional bail at a previous hearing. He gained international recognition as the husband of pop star Katy Perry, but is better known in the UK for his hyper-sexualised and often lewd comedy routines and TV and radio appearances in the early 2000s. Now living partly in the US, Brand appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London earlier this month, where he showed no emotion as a prosecutor read out allegations against him. On Friday Brand appeared in the dock flanked by two officers, where he stood stock-still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas. He is now due to stand trial next year, on June 3, 2026. Prosecutors charged Brand following a police probe into allegations aired in a 2003 Channel 4 documentary. He is accused of raping one woman in a hotel room following an event in the southern Bournemouth area in 1999. Another charge relates to the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in 2004 in central London. The accusations involve four women, including one who was a TV worker, and another who was a radio station worker at the time of the alleged assaults. In a video response on X after he was charged in April, Brand said he was 'grateful' for the 'opportunity' to defend himself. - Conservative guru - 'I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was was a rapist. I've never engaged in non-consensual activity,' he said in the video. Born in 1975 to working-class parents in Essex, east of London, Brand began his stand-up career as a teenager, eventually working as an MTV presenter and host of a Big Brother spin-off. He presented a show on the BBC's Radio 2 station between 2006 and 2008, but quit after an on-air prank when he left a sexually explicit voicemail for 'Fawlty Towers' actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter. Once a left-leaning political campaigner and Hollywood star, he has rebranded himself as a conservative guru to his millions of social media followers. Brand often peddles in conspiracy theories, as well as sharing wellness tips, in his anti-establishment videos. Last year, he said he became a Christian after being baptised in the Thames river.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Russell Brand pleads not guilty to rape, sexual assault charges
LONDON: British comedian and actor Russell Brand pleaded not guilty Friday at a London criminal court to five charges of sexual offences including rape and sexual assault. The media personality turned anti-establishment influencer faces one count of rape, one of oral rape, two of sexual assault and one of indecent assault between 1999 and 2005, involving four women. Crowds were waiting as Brand, 49, arrived at Southwark Crown Court in an open-buttoned shirt and dark blazer for the plea hearing, after being granted conditional bail at a previous hearing. He gained international recognition as the husband of pop star Katy Perry, but is better known in the UK for his hyper-sexualised and often lewd comedy routines and TV and radio appearances in the early 2000s. Now living partly in the US, Brand appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London earlier this month, where he showed no emotion as a prosecutor read out allegations against him. On Friday Brand appeared in the dock flanked by two officers, where he stood stock-still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas. He is now due to stand trial next year, on June 3, 2026. Prosecutors charged Brand following a police probe into allegations aired in a 2003 Channel 4 documentary. He is accused of raping one woman in a hotel room following an event in the southern Bournemouth area in 1999. Another charge relates to the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in 2004 in central London. The accusations involve four women, including one who was a TV worker, and another who was a radio station worker at the time of the alleged assaults. In a video response on X after he was charged in April, Brand said he was 'grateful' for the 'opportunity' to defend himself. - Conservative guru - 'I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was was a rapist. I've never engaged in non-consensual activity,' he said in the video. Born in 1975 to working-class parents in Essex, east of London, Brand began his stand-up career as a teenager, eventually working as an MTV presenter and host of a Big Brother spin-off. He presented a show on the BBC's Radio 2 station between 2006 and 2008, but quit after an on-air prank when he left a sexually explicit voicemail for 'Fawlty Towers' actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter. Once a left-leaning political campaigner and Hollywood star, he has rebranded himself as a conservative guru to his millions of social media followers. Brand often peddles in conspiracy theories, as well as sharing wellness tips, in his anti-establishment videos. Last year, he said he became a Christian after being baptised in the Thames river.
Time Out
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The Play That Goes Wrong
This comedy has, of course, actually done everything right. Produced by LAMDA graduates Mischief Theatre, the show has had successful runs at the Old Red Lion in Islington, Trafalgar Studios, and in Edinburgh; now it's made it all the way to the West End. Amid all the chatter about the overbearing West End dominance of jukebox musicals and film spin-offs, it's cheering to see a dynamic young company land slap-bang in the middle of Theatreland. The show is a farcical play-within-a-play. Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are mounting a production of a hoary old sub-'Mousetrap' mystery called 'The Murder at Haversham Manor'. From the first moment, in which a hapless stage manager attempts to secure a collapsing mantelpiece, we suspect that things are not going to go to plan. And that, indeed, is the case, as the production shudders painfully into chaos, taking in everything from dropped lines to disintegrating sets, intra-cast fighting, technical malfunctions of the highest order, and an unexpectedly resuscitated corpse. The show sits in a fine tradition of British slapstick, and of plays about theatrical blunders: its debt to Michael Frayn's hilarious 'Noises Off', about the gradual disintegration of a touring rep production, is considerable. This is, to be fair, acknowledged by the play's marketing, which calls it — correctly — ''Fawlty Towers' meets 'Noises Off''. But the trouble is that anyone who has seen, and loved, 'Noises Off', is likely to find the comparison unfavourable: Frayn's play simply does all the same things, and does them better. Still, there are laughs to be had here, and the production is a technical triumph: ensuring that props and sets collapse on cue, without actually injuring anyone, is a genuine feat of stage management.
Arab News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
UK comedian Russell Brand appears in court on rape charges
LONDON: British comedian and actor Russell Brand appeared in a London court on Friday to face five charges of rape and other sexual offenses and said. Brand, 49, who became known internationally as the husband of pop star Katy Perry after forging a career in Britain with his risque comedy routines, was charged last month. He faces two counts of rape, two of sexual assault and one of indecent assault. Arriving for the first court hearing in the case, Brand made his way slowly through a crush of media and onlookers gathered outside the court. The celebrity, dressed casually in a dark colored open-necked shirt and jeans, spoke only to confirm his details before being granted bail and ordered to appear in court again on May 30. In a video response on X after he was charged, Brand denied all the alleged offenses and said he was 'grateful' for the 'opportunity' to defend himself. 'I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was a rapist. I've never engaged in non-consensual activity,' he said in the video. The charges relate to offenses alleged to have taken place between 1999 and 2005 involving four women. Prosecutors charged him after a police investigation into allegations following a broadcast of a Channel 4 documentary in September 2023. London's Metropolitan Police have said the investigation remains open and urged 'anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information' to contact officers. Brand is charged with the rape of a woman in 1999 in the Bournemouth area on England's south coast, as well as the abuse and sexual assault of a woman in 2004 in the Westminster area of central London. He has also been charged with indecently assaulting a woman in 2001 and sexually assaulting another woman between 2004 and 2005 — both incidents alleged to have taken place in Westminster. The court confirmed that he lives part of the time in the United States, but Brand also gave an address in the southern English county of Buckinghamshire. Born in 1975 to working-class parents in Essex, east of London, Brand began his stand-up career as a teenager. He burst onto the scene as a provocative, often lewd comedian before transforming into a Hollywood star, then an anti-establishment guru and conspiracy theorist who has millions of fans online. He has almost seven million subscribers on YouTube, 11.3 million on X and 4.8 million on Instagram. He presented a show on the BBC's Radio 2 station between 2006 and 2008 but left after an on-air prank when he left a sexually explicit voicemail for 'Fawlty Towers' actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter. He also presented a 'Big Brother' spin-off show for several years and wrote columns for the left-wing Guardian newspaper and penned two autobiographies. Brand was married to US star Perry for 14 months between 2010 and 2012. He is now married to the author and illustrator Laura Gallacher, with whom he has three children.
