Russell Brand’s Trial: Promiscuity Claims, Media Defamation Allegations, and a Reduced Charge

London’s Southwark Crown Court heard the prepared police statements of comedian-actor Russell Brand on October 27. Brand, 51, is on trial for three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and an indecent-assault allegation that a judge has now reduced to attempted indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Variety MagazineRussell Brand told police he never had non-consensual sex, London court hears at his trial – Cyprus Inform The Straits TimesHollywood Reporter

The criminal case stems from allegations made by six women covering incidents between 1999 and 2009. The accusations entered the public sphere after a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary and accompanying newspaper reports were broadcast on September 16, 2023. Those media pieces prompted a police investigation that led to four recorded interviews with Brand between November 2023 and July 2025.

Russell Brand told police he never had non-consensual sex, London court hears at his trial – Cyprus Inform

• Charges: three rape counts, three sexual-assault counts, one indecent-assault count (now attempted indecent assault).

Variety Magazine

• Accusers: six women, each alleging a separate incident.

Variety Magazine

• Alleged timeline: incidents reported to have occurred from 1999 to 2009.

The Straits Times

• Trial duration: expected to run up to six weeks, with the defence scheduled to begin on October 28 (scheduled).

Deadline Hollywood

Judge Mr Justice Bennathan concluded that the evidence on the original indecent-assault charge was insufficient and directed the jury to return a not-guilty verdict on that count, replacing it with a charge of attempted indecent assault.

Variety Magazine

Former personal assistant Helen Berger testified that Brand’s “insane sexual appetite” was evident in his constant pursuit of women, including using MySpace to obtain phone numbers and inviting her to collect them. Berger said Brand would joke, “May I go and have sex now?”

Hollywood Reporter

• “As I have repeatedly stated publicly and written about extensively, I led a very promiscuous life in the past, which I have spent years openly denouncing,” — Russell Brand, judge

Hollywood Reporter

• “Everything I did in public once I was famous could be photographed or recorded and end up in the tabloids — I was aware of this,” — Russell Brand, judge

Hollywood Reporter

• “The magnitude of promiscuity deceptively rendered in recent media attacks have caused consensual encounters to be reframed decades later,” — Russell Brand, judge

Deadline Hollywood

• “Though I’d worked with celebrities before and seen a lot of people normalising bad behaviour, this was on another level. I think everyone else normalising and dismissing Russell’s behaviour made me think, I guess, this is just the way it is,” — Helen Berger

The Guardian

• “In addition to his busy work, he had an insane sexual appetite and was sleeping with people day and night. He was very open about what his needs were,” — Helen Berger

The Guardian

• “I think everyone else normalizing and dismissing Brand’s behavior made me think, ‘I guess this is just the way it is,’” — Helen Berger

Hollywood Reporter

Sources uniformly report the same set of charges and the judge’s reduction of the indecent-assault count. No substantive discrepancies were identified regarding the number of alleged victims or the timeline of the alleged offences.

Variety Magazine

The defence is slated to present its case on October 28, after which the jury will consider the remaining five charges. The trial is expected to conclude within the next two to three weeks.

Deadline Hollywood