UK comedian Russell Brand charged with two new offences of rape and sexual assault, bringing total charges relating to six women.
LONDON: UK police have issued two new charges against comedian and actor Russell Brand.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the new charges of rape and sexual assault on Tuesday.
These new charges relate to two further women and are in addition to five previous charges issued in April 2025.
The total charges now relate to allegations from six women following further police investigations.
Brand, 50, has been summoned to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on January 20 to face the two new charges.
A trial on the five original charges is set to begin at Southwark Crown Court on June 16.
The original charges include one count of rape, one of oral rape, two of sexual assault and one of indecent assault alleged to have occurred between 1999 and 2005.
Brand pleaded not guilty to all five original charges in May.
On social media platform X, Brand responded to the new charges by saying he felt “blessed” to “have the opportunity to atone for the many things over the years I did wrong”.
He added he wanted to “ensure that people understand the truth of my situation”.
Brand stated, “I pray Lord that anyone that I’ve harmed or hurt in my years of mindlessness in sin would be healed.”
Prosecutors charged Brand following a police probe into allegations aired in a Channel 4 documentary.
He is accused of raping one woman in a hotel room in Bournemouth in 1999.
Another charge relates to the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in central London in 2004.
After the initial charges, Brand posted a video saying “I never was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi said the women reporting the alleged behaviour “continue to receive support from specially trained officers”.
He added the police investigation was ongoing and urged anyone with information to come forward.
Brand began his career as a teenage stand-up comedian before working as an MTV presenter.
He presented a BBC Radio 2 show between 2006 and 2008 but quit after an on-air prank involving actor Andrew Sachs.
Once a Hollywood star and left-leaning campaigner, he has rebranded as a conservative social media influencer.
Last year, Brand said he became a Christian after being baptised in the River Thames.
