LONDON (AP) — Russell Brand faces a reckoning Monday for sexual abuse that occurred just offstage from a public life built around boasts of his erotic exploits.
The accusers came forward following a 2023 investigation by The Times and Channel 4 that aired accusations from women who said they had been sexually abused and degraded by Brand. Brand was acquitted of raping another woman in a hotel room during the Labour Party’s annual conference in the seaside town of Bournemouth in 1999, and of attempting to indecently assault a woman by dragging her into the men’s bathroom at the London office of music channel MTV. The British actor-comedian known for outrageous stand-up routines and battles with drugs and alcohol asserted that he was innocent and all his encounters were consensual. Brand, who was known for edgy stand-up routines and battles with drugs and alcohol, rose to prominence in the early 2000s hosting television programs and his own BBC radio show.
He appeared in Hollywood films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek” and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.
