Russell Brand denies all charges as he testifies at sex assault trial

Russell Brand acknowledged in a London court that he had been obsessed with sex as a younger man, but denied multiple charges of rape and sexual assault, saying the claims have had a “devastating” impact on his life.

The British actor-comedian entered Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) alongside his wife, Laura Gallacher, to testify in his own defence, telling reporters that “today is the day for truth and justice”.

Brand, 51, stood in the witness box and took the oath, then gave his full name: Russell Edward Brand.

He answered “no” to each charge as his lawyer, Ian Winter, asked whether he was guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault.

Brand denied forcing any of the six alleged victims to do anything against their will.

“Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary, and indeed in many ways more important than sex itself,” Brand said.

Brand said the allegations had had a “devastating” impact, with friends and colleagues abandoning him. He said no one with relevant evidence had been willing to testify in court on his behalf.

“My entire life has been consumed by these events, these allegations, these accusations,” he said, adding later that dealing with the “traumatic” allegations had come “at the expense of my marriage, my children and health”.

Brand said he even was barred from staying with his baby son in hospital after anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him in a newspaper and a TV documentary in 2023.

Six women accuse Brand of misconduct

Over the past two weeks of the trial, prosecutors set out their case and the jury heard from six women who accuse Brand of sexual misconduct between 1999 and 2009.

The allegations cover a decade when Brand went from rising stand-up comedian to major celebrity in the UK.

The first victim alleges that Brand raped her in a hotel room during the Labour Party’s annual conference in the seaside town of Bournemouth in 1999. Another woman alleges that in 2001 Brand tried to drag her into the men’s bathroom at the London office of music channel MTV, where she worked.

A third woman alleges that Brand orally raped her in 2004 in the toilet of a London bar, and a fourth says Brand kissed and groped her at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005.

Another complainant says Brand anally raped her at his home after she met him at one of his shows in 2009, while the sixth says the comedian demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin during the recording of an advertisement in 2009.

Brand says all encounters were consensual

Under cross-examination by Karmy-Jones, Brand acknowledged he had dedicated a lot of his earlier life to “beyond reckless philandering”.

“As I became more successful and famous I was very comfortable allowing that to facilitate sexual access, which I agree with you was wrong,” he said.

He said “yes” when asked if he had been obsessed with sex when he was younger, but “no” when the prosecutor asked: “Do you accept that you were desperate for it and sometimes couldn’t function without it?”

As he completed a day on the stand, Brand was asked again whether he had committed the crimes he is accused of.

“Not guilty is my plea in every single case,” he said.