LONDON: Actor and comedian Russell Brand appeared before a UK court on Tuesday in connection with two new charges of rape and sexual assault relating to alleged incidents in London in 2009.
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The additional charges, filed in December 2025, involve two separate women. Brand, 50, had already pleaded not guilty in May last year to two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault linked to alleged incidents involving four women between 1999 and 2005.
Brand appeared remotely via video link, wearing a pale blue shirt, and spoke briefly only to confirm his name and date of birth. The court granted him conditional bail and scheduled his next appearance at Southwark Crown Court in south London on February 17 for a pre-trial hearing.
The case follows a 2023 investigation by British media outlets, which brought forward multiple allegations of a sexual nature against the former entertainer.
A trial on the five original charges is due to begin at Southwark Crown Court in June.
Brand rose to prominence as a stand-up comedian before achieving international fame in the early 2010s through film and television work. He married pop singer Katy Perry in 2010, with the couple divorcing two years later.
In recent years, Brand has shifted from his earlier image as a Hollywood actor and left-leaning political activist to a conservative commentator with a large online following. In 2024, he announced that he had converted to Christianity after being baptised in the River Thames.
