Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault in Britain

Prosecutors in Britain have charged comedian-actor Russell Brand with multiple counts of sexual assault, including two counts of rape.

- ALEX MARSHALL

The country's Crown Prosecution Service announced the charges last week.

Jaswant Narwal, a prosecutor, said in a statement that Brand, 50, would appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London for a first hearing on May 2.

Narwal added that the charges "relate to reported non-recent offences between 1999 and 2005, involving four women".

British police began investigating Brand's past behaviour 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.