Russell Brand Pleads Not Guilty to Disturbing Rape and Sexual Assault Charges

Russell Brand is maintaining his innocence after being hit with a series of intense charges last month.

The famed actor, 49, pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, indecent assault and sexual assault during a hearing in London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday, May 30.

Brand faces a total of five serious charges — including one count of rape, one of indecent assault, an oral rape allegation and two additional counts of sexual assault. All of the charges involve alleged encounters that took place between 1999 and 2005.

Upon entering court on Friday, the Get Him to the Greek actor was dressed in his typical style — sunglasses, an open pin-stripe shirt, a dark blazer and skinny jeans. His beard and curly hair were kempt and he had layered necklaces resting on his exposed chest.

Brand was accompanied by his lawyer Oliver Schneider-Sikorsky — the same attorney who successfully defended Kevin Spacey when he was found not guilty of sexual assault charges in 2023.

The Forgetting Sarah Marshall actor's hearing in front of Judge Baumgartner was short-lived and completed within minutes.

After pleading not guilty on Friday, Brand was allowed to leave court on conditional bail, as his trial will not begin until June 3, 2026, due to court delays.

The comedian was initially hit with charges in early April by London's Metropolitan Police following the completion of an investigation that dated back to September 2023.

Brand has maintained his innocence ever since the accusations first came to light.

The Arthur star took to social media shortly after being charged to insist he was not guilty of the crimes brought against him.

"When I was young and single, before I had my wife and family, I was a fool, was a fool before I lived in the light of the lord, I was a drug addict, s-- addict and an imbecile," Brand, who married his wife, Laura, in 2017, said in a self-recorded video. "But what I never was, was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes."

"I'm now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court and I'm incredibly grateful for that," he noted of his upcoming trial.

At the time the allegations came to light in 2023, Brand similarly spoke out attempting to maintain his innocence.

"The relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual," he declared. "I was always transparent about that then — almost too transparent. And I’m being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny."