Russell Brand appears in court over rape and sexual assault charges

Former television star Russell Brand appeared in court accused of raping and sexually assaulting two women after fresh charges were put to him today.

The 50-year-old was not asked to enter pleas on either count, alleged to have taken place in 2009.

He has already denied five other counts of sexual assaults and is due to go on trial later this year.

Florida-based Brand appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink this afternoon.

The charges are: one count of rape, between February 7, 2009, and March 1, 2009; and a separate count of sexual assault, between August 31, 2009, and December 1, 2009.

The complainants cannot be named because of automatic restrictions which protect alleged victims of sexual offences from being identified.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said the allegations were so serious that they could only be heard in the crown court.

Brand was seen on camera wearing a blue shirt, which appeared unbuttoned, during the six-minute hearing.

He spoke only to give his name as Russell Edward Brand, to confirm his date of birth, and to say 'thank you' at the end of the hearing. 

He is due to enter pleas to the charges at the next hearing, at Southwark Crown Court on February 17. 

Around 14 people watched the hearing from the public gallery, while a dozen journalists were present inside the courtroom.

The former actor and comedian is already facing one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault, relating to four separate women.

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He appeared in court in May last year and pleaded not guilty to these five counts.

The new charges relate to two additional women.

Detectives began investigating in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations, which followed reporting by Channel 4's Dispatches and The Sunday Times.

The original incidents are said to have occurred between 1999 and 2005.

Brand is accused of raping a woman in a hotel in 1999 after they met that day at a theatrical event following the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.

Brand is also alleged to have raped a woman working in television whom he met in a Soho bar in 2004.

He is accused of grabbing her breasts before pulling the victim into a toilet and forcing her to perform a sex act.

Another woman claims she was indecently assaulted by Brand, who grabbed her arm and attempted to drag her into a male lavatory at a television station in 2001.

Brand was working for Channel 4 on Big Brother's Big Mouth between 2004 and 2005 when he is said to have carried out the final assault on a radio station worker.

Born-again Christian Brand denied the charges in a video posted online shortly after he was initially charged last year.

He told viewers: 'When I was young and single, before I had my wife and family… I was a fool, man. I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile. 

'But what I never was was a rapist. I have never engaged in non-consensual activity.'

A four-week trial is scheduled to begin at Southwark Crown Court this summer in relation to the five original charges.

Speaking after Brand was charged just before Christmas, Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi from the Metropolitan Police who is leading the investigation said: 'The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

'The Met's investigation remains ongoing, and detectives urge anyone affected by this case, or anyone with information, to come forward and speak with police.'

Lionel Idan, chief crown prosecutor for the CPS, said: 'These additional charges follow an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

'Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring these additional charges to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue further criminal proceedings.'

He was married to US pop singer Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012 but is now married to Laura Gallacher, the sister of presenter Kirsty, and the pair have two children, Mabel and Peggy.