British comedian and actor Russell Brand arrived at court on Friday after he was charged last month with rape and sexual assault.
London’s Metropolitan Police charged Brand, 49, with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, and one count of oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault. The charges relate to four separate women.
The alleged incidents took place between 1999 and 2005. He has denied the allegations.
The hearing will take place at Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London.
The Metropolitan Police described Brand as living in southern England when announcing the charges in April. However British news agency PA Media has reported that he is now understood to live in the United States.
Detectives began investigating the comedian, who more recently has repositioned himself as a social commentator, in September 2023 after receiving allegations following a joint investigation led by three British media outlets – The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4’s “Dispatches.”
According to the Metropolitan Police, it is alleged that one woman was raped in 1999 in Bournemouth, southern England; one woman was indecently assaulted in London’s Westminster area in 2001; a woman was orally raped and sexually assaulted in Westminster in 2004; and a woman was sexually assaulted between 2004 and 2005, also in Westminster.
Brand has appeared in numerous Hollywood films and hosted radio and TV shows in the UK. He was married to US pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.
