Russell Brand Sentenced to 10 Years 6 Months for Rape and Sexual Assault
British Comedian and Actor Russell Brand was sentenced on Monday to 10 years and six months in prison after he was convicted on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault in the United Kingdom following a weeks long trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Brand, 51, most famous for his work as a stand-up comedian and brash radio and TV personality, was found guilty by a London jury last week after six women accused him of rape, sexual assault and attempted indecent assault during incidents that took place between 1999 and 2009.
During his sentencing remarks, the judge said Brand had been protected by his celebrity status, with an entourage who “indulged” his “dreadful behaviour”, until journalists from the Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches first exposed allegations in 2023, leading to other women making complaints to police
Brand had a “casual arrogant disregard to any woman’s right to say no to you”, the judge added
The court also heard impact statements from the four victims, with the woman who was raped in 2009 saying that after consensual vaginal sex, and without warning or consent, Brand anally raped her, leaving her in such pain she was unable to “speak or breathe”
“I felt that if I reported him, I would not be believed,” the woman said. “His fame, wealth and influence created a power imbalance which made me feel powerless”
Brand was also convicted of sexually assaulting a female Channel 4 worker in 2009, shortly after he had started dating pop star Katy Perry. The woman, who was working alone with Brand and his entourage, was forced to massage him, and at one point he knelt down and put his head in her lap, with his nose and mouth in her “vaginal area”
She told the court her complaint to Channel 4 at the time was “brushed under the carpet”
Brand was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at a bar in Soho in 2004, when he grabbed her breasts within seconds of meeting her. She was left “extremely upset and traumatised”, the judge said.
Brand also sexually assaulted a Choice FM worker in either 2004 or 2005. She told the court he kissed her “sloppily”, groped her body, and laughed when she eventually managed to push him away. She said he had shown “no remorse for how his behaviour” had impacted her life
The sentencing also heard character references for the defence, including one from Georgina Baillie, granddaughter of the late actor Andrew Sachs and the woman at the heart of the 2008 Sachsgate scandal. She said Brand had helped her recover from alcohol addiction
Outside court after the sentencing, Brand’s wife Laura was seen breathing deeply and muttering “it’s okay, it’s okay” as a group of supporters ushered her through the corridors
Brand, who has already spent four nights in custody at HMP Wandsworth following his conviction last week, will be on the sex offenders’ register for life
The Met Police said last week that detectives are still investigating two other allegations of rape against Brand
After the first charges were filed, Brand said he was a “drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile” before marrying his wife and starting a family, but said he’d “never engaged in nonconsensual activity.”
Brand pleaded not guilty at the trial and, under British rules for serious offenses, Brand must serve at least two-thirds of his sentence time behind bars.
