My entire life has been consumed by these allegations,
Russell Brand told Southwark Crown Court in London. The 51-year-old comedian denies three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault. All evidence has now ended, and the jury is expected to begin deliberating next week.
That line came when Brand took the stand on Wednesday. The charges involve six women and span a decade, from 1999 to 2009.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC gave her closing speech on Friday. Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC, is due to give his on Monday.
Brand Spends Four Hours in the Witness Box
Brand was the first and only defense witness. He told the court he could not persuade anyone to testify for him. Asked by Winter whether he committed each offense, he answered “No.”
He described himself as a man on the cusp of fame and increasingly focused
on womanizing. He conceded he had been comfortable letting fame “facilitate sexual access”, which he said was wrong. He insisted consent was “non-negotiable” and “more important than sex itself.”
The Guardian’s weekly roundup noted a shift in his demeanor under cross-examination, with pauses and long silences. One came after the prosecutor’s first question, “You blame Dispatches, don’t you?” Brand conceded he blames the media in some ways
, and said the 2023 reporting was devastating.
Before the defense case began, the judge reduced one of the seven charges from indecent assault to attempted indecent assault. He told jurors there was insufficient evidence
regarding an alleged 2001 incident involving an MTV employee. Outside court, Brand said he was grateful that it was a day for truth and justice.
He was accompanied by his wife, Laura Gallacher.
Brand also told the court he believed that removing his condom before the alleged anal rape was a consensual act,
and he denied sexually assaulting the sixth complainant, who said she was made to give him a massage at work in 2009.
As questioning ended he said: “I’m innocent.”
Russell Brand Explains Contact List Codes in Court
Brand told the jury a contact in his phone, tied to the 21-year-old fan he met after a 2009 show, used a code of abbreviations that he explained from the stand. The woman’s name is suppressed.
He said the “T” stood for Tart, a word he used for women available for casual hook-ups. He said the two asterisks meant: Never, ever forget this individual, this is a memorable encounter.
The court heard that Brand gave his iPhone 5 to police, and that a forensic company found thousands of contacts on it. Barrister Polly Dyer said in agreed facts that the number matched complainant five’s mobile.
On the 2004 Soho bar allegation, Brand told police in 2024 he had no memory of meeting the woman. On the stand he said visiting the location and that cubicle helped him recall an encounter. Prosecutors asked whether he waited to see the videos to structure his case.
He said no.
Wife and Ex-Girlfriends Speak for the Defense
Brand’s wife, Laura, called him “caring” and “kind” and a wonderful father. She also said he slept with other women when they first dated in 2006 and 2007. The couple reunited in 2015 and married in 2017.
Laura Brand is the sister of TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher, and the couple have three children. They began dating in 2006 after meeting at the Edinburgh Festival. She told jurors she was inexperienced, having had only one previous partner. She said she knew he “liked womenand was not interested in a relationship if he was sleeping with others. She told the court:
I love him very much.”
Statements from two ex-girlfriends were read to the court. One, Elia Alvarez Diaz, said he acquired a bad boy reputation
and was a complex character
who cheated repeatedly but also could be gentle, kind and generous.
Judge Bennathan later told jurors that his good character is not a defense but should be weighed in two ways. The jury was also told of a 1995 cannabis conviction and no others.
Prosecutor Calls Brand’s Treatment of Women “Disposable”
The prosecutor argued Brand treated women as a disposable commodity
and a means to an end
, pursuing a goal of sleeping with well over 5,000 girls. She cited his 2007 book and a 2017 interview. In the book, Brand used a picture of a childhood photo in a way she put to him in court.
She said the six women do not know one another and have not sought the limelight, joined a documentary or claimed compensation. She said Brand snapped
from charming to nasty. To show how long one alleged toilet incident lasted, she ran a stopwatch for 20 seconds of courtroom silence.
She also urged the jurors to see that the 2023 documentary did not shape the women’s accounts. Karmy-Jones said Brand may now have a different view of consent,
but jurors must consider the man he was up to 25 years ago.
The allegations include an attempted indecent assault on an MTV worker in 2001, and an attack on another MTV worker in a Soho bar toilet in 2004. They also cover a 2005 incident involving a radio worker in a corridor and the alleged rape of a woman in a hotel room at the 1999 Labour Party conference. Karmy-Jones said the women had nothing to gain, apart from perhaps some closure.
Judge Hands Jury 22 Questions
Mr Justice Bennathan gave jurors 22 questions across the seven counts and asked for unanimous verdicts. On the rape counts, the key question is whether jurors are sure Brand did not reasonably believe the woman was consenting. He also told them not to assume delayed complaints are untrue.
Winter’s closing speech comes first on Monday. Then the jury retires. Brand denies every charge, and no verdict has been reached.