Russell Brand charged with new rape and sexual assault offences

Russell Brand has been charged with two further offences including one count of rape, the Metropolitan Police has said.

In a new statement, the police force said the Crown Prosecution Service has authorised an additional charge of rape and a charge of sexual assault relating to two further women.

The broadcaster, comedian and actor previously pleaded not guilty to five charges including two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault in relation to four women.

Mr Brand, 50, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 20 January 2026 in relation to the two new charges.

Detectives began investigating allegations into Mr Brand which came to light following reporting from the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches in September 2023.

The new rape charge is alleged to have taken place between 7 Feb 2009 and 1 March 2009 and relates to one woman, while the new count of sexual assault is alleged to have taken place between 31 August 2009 and 1 December 2009 and relates to a separate woman.

A trial is set to take place at Southwark Crown Court on 16 June 2026 for the five original charges which allegedly took place on dates spanning between 1999 and 2005 in central London and Bournemouth.

Mr Brand, of Oxfordshire, is accused of raping one woman in Bournemouth in 1999, and indecently assaulting another in the Westminster area in 2001.

A third charge alleges he sexually assaulted a woman in Westminster between 2004 and 2005, while the remaining counts relate to the alleged oral rape and sexual assault of an additional woman in 2004 in the Westminster area

Det Ch Insp Tariq Farooqi from the Metropolitan Police has said the women who have made reports are receiving support from specially trained officers.

Mr Brand, who was born in Essex, rose to fame as a stand-up comedian and became a household name as host of TV shows like Big Brother’s Big Mouth, and with his own radio programmes on stations including BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music.

He went on to establish a Hollywood career, starring in films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek.