British actor Russell Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault charges in a London courtroom on Thursday, three years after an investigation by British media cast a new shadow on the former Hollywood star–turned–religious content creator. A jury of eight men and four women found 51-year-old Brand, the once in-demand star of “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,”guilty on four of the seven charges brought against him by prosecutors: one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four different women. The actor, who denied the charges heading into prosecution, was also acquitted of two rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault.
The criminal charges against Brand stem from his interactions with six different women in the U.K. spanning from the late 1990s to the late aughts. The jury reached its verdict after two days of deliberation. Judge Joel Bennathan said the actor faces a “significant” prison term when he is sentenced Monday.
Brand, who had been free, was taken into custody after the judge rejected the actor’s bail request to see his kids, citing concerns he might flee. Brand was mostly emotionless when the jury handed down its guilty verdict. He assured his attorneys he was OK after his bail was denied, telling his team, “I’m good, I’m good,” before he was taken into custody.
Andy Furphy of London’s Metropolitan Police said the conviction was “a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who came forward and reported what happened to them,” according to AP. During closing arguments on Monday, Brand’s defense attorney Ian Winter told jurors that the actor is not a “psychopath who rapes people and thinks it’s normal.” Winter also challenged the validity of the accusations against Brand, noting “out of the many, many women that Mr. Brand had sex with during this period only three” complained they did not consent to sex with the star.
The trial against Brand began Oct. 12 and saw prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones portray the comedian as ruthless, “calculating,” “manipulative” and as a “sexual predator.” Brand, ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry, maintained his innocence and later in court proceedings denied forcing any of his accusers into sexual encounters: “Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary, and indeed in may ways more important than sex itself.” Brand was first publicly accused of sexual assault in 2023 when the Times of London and Britain’s Channel 4 published a joint investigation into allegations involving several women between 2006 and 2013. He preemptively denied the allegations in a video posted to his YouTube channel, refuting the “very, very serious criminal allegations” about to come out against him. Another woman who said she worked on Brand’s 2011 film “Arthur” also accused the actor of sexually assaulting her on set in a lawsuit filed months later.
U.K. police first pressed charges against Brand in April 2025, accusing him of single counts of rape, indecent assault, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault involving incidents from 1999 to 2005. Prosecutors accused Brand of raping a woman in the English seaside area of Bournemouth in 1999. Officials also accused Brand of 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 to 2005, incidents that allegedly occurred in Westminster, according to U.K. officials.
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