LONDON – British comedian and actor Russell Brand will be sentenced in court on Monday and could face a lengthy prison sentence after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault.
The book will bring about a complete fall from grace for Brand, 51, who rose to fame on both sides of the Atlantic for chronicling his promiscuity and struggles with drug addiction.
Last week he was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts and denies all charges.
Brand appeared in a London court on Monday, wearing a dark suit and occasionally making the sign of the cross as Judge Joel Bennathan prepared to hand down the sentence. A judge said last week that Bland faced a “substantial” prison sentence for his crimes.
The British Sentencing Commission said that under British law, the maximum penalty for rape is life imprisonment, while the maximum penalty for sexual assault is ten years in prison.
Bland’s female victims told the court in person and in written statements on Monday that they still live with the trauma and impact in their daily lives.
One woman told the sentencing hearing that “I have been in shock and confusion for years”, while another called him a “sexual predator” and said he appeared to have “no remorse”. Under British law, victims of alleged sex crimes will remain anonymous for life.
Since Bland’s conviction, London’s Metropolitan Police said it had been referred to prosecutors investigating two other rape allegations against him.
Bland case sparks renewed ethics scrutiny Brand rose through the entertainment industry from a flamboyant British broadcaster and stand-up comedian to a Hollywood movie star.
After a four-week trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court, a jury of eight men and four women found Brand guilty of anal intercourse. In 2009, a female fan met him at one of his shows and came to his home.
He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman who grabbed her breasts at a party in 2004, and of kissing and touching another woman at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005.
Brand was handed a third guilty verdict for sexually assaulting a woman who testified that Brand pressed his face into her groin while filming a 2009 commercial.
He was found guilty of two further counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault.
Prosecutors said the women did not know each other and made separate reports to police in 2023 after a TV documentary aired in Britain.
During the trial, prosecutor Lil Camie Jones called Bland a ruthless, calculating and manipulative “sexual predator” who treated women as “disposable commodities.”
Brand admitted in his testimony that as a young celebrity he was obsessed with sex. He denied having non-consensual sex.
At the height of his fame, Brand appeared in several Hollywood films, including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. His fame in the United States was further cemented after a brief marriage to singer Katy Perry in a lavish wedding in India in 2010. The two divorced in 2012.
Bland’s current wife, Laura Gallacher, was in court Monday and had previously testified that Bland was a “loving, kind and wonderful father.” The couple married in 2017 and have three young children.
In recent years, Brand has gradually moved away from mainstream media and become an anti-establishment commentator. He briefly moved to Florida and built a large online following through videos discussing American politics, health, conspiracy theories and his newfound Christian faith.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. This hotline is run by the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) and puts you in touch with your local rape crisis center. You can also visit RAINN’s online chat service: rainn.org/get-help.