Comedian-turned wellness guru Russell Brand has been charged with a string of rapes and sexual assaults dating back more than 25 years, British police said Friday.
The 49-year-old was hit with charges of rape, indecent assault, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault, according to the Metropolitan Police.
The alleged offenses are tied to four separate women and took place between 1999 and 2005, cops said.
The British actor, who was once married to pop star Katy Perry, is accused of raping one woman in Bournemouth in 1999 and indecently assaulting another in 2001 in London’s Westminster area.
Police said he is also responsible for the alleged oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in Westminster in 2004, as well as the sexual assault of another alleged victim between 2004 and 2005.
Cops opened a sex crimes investigation into Brand back in September 2023 – just weeks after The Sunday Times and Channel 4 TV’s documentary show “Dispatches” reported that four women had accused Brand of sexual assault – including one rape that allegedly occurred at his Los Angeles home in 2012 at the height of his Hollywood fame.
In another alleged incident detailed in the report, the “Get Him to the Greek” star was accused of assaulting a then-16-year-old girl by forcing her to perform oral sex during a three-month-long relationship.
The then-teen claimed she had to punch the star in the stomach to make him stop, the report alleged.
The other accusers detailed in the initial media report included a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her at his property in West Hollywood after they met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the charges were tied to any of the allegations laid bare in the media reports.
Police on Friday said they’d received a handful of complaints from women after the documentary aired.
Brand, at the time, denied the claims, insisting his relationships were “always consensual.”
“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous,” he said.
“Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual.” On Friday, hours after the charges were leveled against him, he insisted he had never raped anyone.
“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,” he said in a video statement on Instagram.
Police said their investigation was ongoing.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police,” Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said in a statement on Friday.
“The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.”
Jaswant Narwal, of Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service, said prosecutors had “carefully reviewed the evidence” before bringing the charges.
“We have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with offenses including rape, sexual assault and indecent assault,” Narwal said.
Known for his unbridled standup routines, Brand hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his battles with drugs and alcohol and appeared in a string of films at the height of his fame.
In recent years, Brand built up a large following online with a spate of wellness gurus clips.
Brand spoke of his sobriety and newfound Christian faith in a wide-ranging interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity just this week, in which he said Jesus had helped him with his inner demons.
“You can get attached to and addicted to anything… Unless your personal identity is surrendered to a higher purpose, most obviously and notably, Christ Jesus,” he said.
“Contending with addiction is at the forefront of my life, continually,” he added.
“Now, since becoming a Christian, I recognize that many of the principles that were made clear to me in 12-step recovery reach a kind of fulfillment, continuation and elevation of what I was already experiencing… I said to myself, this is what you’re looking for. This is the direction to continue.”
Brand is due to face Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 2.
