May 30 (UPI) — Comedian and actor Russell Brand Friday pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges.
Brand briefly appeared for a hearing at Southwark crown court London on two counts of sexual assault and one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape.
He is accused of assaulting four women in London and Bournemouth between 1999 and 2005.
Brand has 11.2 million X followers and was a BBC Radio 2 presenter between 2006 and 2008 in addition to a comedy and film acting career.
Brand’s trial is set for June 3, 2026. He is free on bail pending trial.
He did not make any comments to reporters as he left the court with security guards, but when he was charged in April he said in a video he was not a rapist and had never engaged in non-consensual sex.
“I’m now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court and I’m incredibly grateful for that,” Brand said.
Brand is accused of raping a woman in 1999, committing oral rape and sexual assault against one of the women in 2004.
He allegedly grabbed a woman and dragged her towards a men’s bathroom in 2001 and faces charges for allegedly assaulting a different woman in 2004 or 2005 by kissing and groping her.
Brand was criminally charged April 4. He appeared in court May 2 for a procedural hearing where he was granted bail and released.
“We have today authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge Russell Brand with a number of sexual offenses. We have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with offenses including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault,” Jaswant Narwal of the British Crown Prosecution Service announced April 4.
The CPS said police investigated the accusations against Brand following release of a Channel 4, Sunday Times and Times investigative story about Brand’s alleged crimes in September 2023.
