The trial of Russell Brand began at Southwark Crown Court in London on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, with prosecutors telling the jury that the British comedian and actor was a "ruthless, calculating" sexual predator whose desire for sexual contact was "indiscriminate and voracious".

Brand, 51 - a flamboyant fixture of British television in the 2000s, a former BBC radio presenter, the star of "Get Him to the Greek" (2010), and the former husband of US singer Katy Perry - faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault relating to six women, in alleged incidents spanning 1999 to 2009. He denies all the accusations.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Riel Karmy-Jones KC said that regardless of who the women were or what they said or did, Brand was not deterred in targeting them. "Some of the women involved protested and said no, others had no opportunity to react to his advances but it mattered not to the defendant," she told the court. "His desire, his strong desire, for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious."

Karmy-Jones told jurors Brand could be "nice when he wanted to be, funny - undoubtedly - charming, likeable even - when he wanted something in return," but was also "demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite, child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met. He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipulative and, the prosecution say, he was a sexual predator."

She detailed each of the six allegations: a woman who says Brand raped her in her hotel room after a gig, pushing her onto the bed despite her saying no; a television worker who described Brand pulling her into the toilets with a "desperate wild-eyed look" before she pushed him away; a woman who says Brand pulled her into the toilets of a Soho bar and forced her to give him oral sex; a 22-year-old radio station worker Brand allegedly grabbed and kissed "sloppily and aggressively" until she pushed him off; an aspiring comedian who had consensual sex with Brand after a gig at the Hammersmith Apollo but says he then penetrated her anally "with full force" without asking; and a TV worker who says Brand demanded a massage during an advert shoot, getting on his knees with "his face pressed deep into her groin" until she pushed him away.

One of the most harrowing accounts heard by the court concerned the 1999 allegation at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth. Prosecutors said the woman felt safe inviting Brand to her hotel room because she assumed he was gay - "he gave no indication of being attracted to her." But Brand stripped down to "budgie smugglers," the British nickname for tight white underpants, and began "prancing around the room" doing "silly walks like Basil Fawlty," the character played by Monty Python star John Cleese. When she asked why he had taken his clothes off, he said: "It's okay, it's just how I am... don't worry, I'm mostly naked at home." The woman "froze" during the alleged assault, prosecutors said, and afterwards felt "ashamed" and blamed herself for inviting him back.

On day two, jurors heard a police interview in which that woman broke down in tears, saying she blamed herself: "I know I said 'no'... I knew I couldn't get out of the situation. Do I shout, do I scream?"

Judge Joel Bennathan told jurors that all six complainants came forward after a 2023 documentary that made allegations of sexual misconduct against Brand, and cautioned that the defence may argue the programme caused them to reinterpret consensual encounters as crimes. The documentary's subjects did not speak to police, and their allegations are not part of this case.

Brand, who arrived at court accompanied by his wife Laura Gallacher, with whom he has been married for nine years and has three children, told reporters outside: "Today I feel blessed. I feel of course concerned but hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved." His trial is expected to last around six weeks.