By Wonderwall.com Editors
3:28am PDT, Apr 5, 2025
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Nearly two years after multiple women accused
Russell Brand of
sexual assault, London's Metropolitan Police have officially filed charges against the disgraced comedian.
According to
Deadline, the
Forgetting Sarah Marshall star has been charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual assault.
Keep reading to see what Brand had to say about the charges against him, then read on for a look back at the horrific allegations he's facing…
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Russell Brand took to X to share
a video shooting down the charges against him: "I've always told you guys that when I was young and single — before I had my wife and family, who are just out of the shot over there, my beautiful children — I was a fool man. 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. I've never engaged in nonconsensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes," he said, adding that he's "incredibly grateful" for "the opportunity to defend these charges in court."
Brand married
Laura Gallacher (pictured) in 2017. They share three children: two daughters and a son.
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Russell Brand also thanked his fans for their "incredible and overwhelming messages of support."
He went on to imply that he's being unfairly targeted by the British government because of his outspoken political beliefs: "We're very fortunate, in a way, to live in a time where there's so little trust in the British government. We're very fortunate, I suppose, that this is happening at a time where we know that the law has become a kind of weapon to be used against people, institutions and sometimes entire nations that will not accept and tolerate levels of corruption that are unprecedented," he said.
"I'm speaking particularly to those of you watching this in the U.K. How do you feel about your legal system right now? How do you feel about some of the high-profile cases that are not being pursued and prosecuted?" he continued.
The conservative comedian — who's gained a following on YouTube in recent years for his controversial take on the global COVID-19 pandemic and other social issues — signed off by telling his followers to "stay free."
"We will be continuing to discus this matter. Praise the Lord," he concluded.
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London's Metropolitan Police released a statement addressing the newly filed charges against
Russell Brand: "The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers," Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said. "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. A dedicated team of investigators is available via email at CIT@met.police.uk."
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In the summer of 2023, five women accused
Russell Brand of sexually assaulting them between 2006 and 2013 — around the time he reached a career high after scoring his first major breakthrough in Hollywood with the 2008 comedy
Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which spawned the 2010 spin-off sequel he headlined,
Get Him to the Greek.
One woman alleged the comedian raped her at his home in Los Angeles. Another woman accused Brand of grooming her when she was just 16. After they went public with their allegations, several more women came forward to make similar claims about Brand, who has maintained his innocence over the years.
"I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. 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, makes me question, is there another agenda at play?" he said in 2023.
