British actor and comedian Russell Brand.
Credit: Reuters Photo
London: Prosecutors in Britain have charged comedian-actor Russell Brand with multiple counts of sexual assault, including two counts of rape.
The country’s Crown Prosecution Service announced the charges Friday.
Jaswant Narwal, a prosecutor, said in a statement that Brand, 50, would appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London for a first hearing May 2.
Narwal added that the charges “relate to reported nonrecent offenses between 1999 and 2005, involving four women.”
British police began investigating Brand’s past behavior in September 2023, after The Sunday Times, The Times of London and the TV network Channel 4 published a joint investigation into allegations against him.
On Friday, Brand posted a video on social media in which he denied ever having committed rape or sexual assault and said he had “never engaged in nonconsensual activity.”
Brand added that he was grateful that he would have a chance to defend himself in court.
The Metropolitan Police in London outlined further details of the charges in a news release Friday. Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area, in southern England, in 1999; of indecently assaulting a woman in London in 2001; of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in London in 2004; and, between 2004 and 2005, of sexually assaulting a fourth woman in London.
The police statement added: “The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”