Six women who never met each other came forward on their own with claims spanning a decade. That was the key line as Russell Brand went on trial in London this week.

So here is what happened in court. On Wednesday, October 14 at Southwark Crown Court, prosecutor Riel Karmy Jones KC told the jury Brand was ruthless and had acted as a sexual predator. The 51 year old denies everything. He faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault relating to six complainants between 1999 and 2009.

The prosecution said the women did not know each other, had never met and came forward independently. The court heard he could be nice, funny and charming when he wanted something in return, but also demanding and entitled with what was described as an indiscriminate and voracious appetite. Sometimes he would leave promptly after, sometimes make an excuse, sometimes carry on as if nothing had happened.

The detail is distressing and very personal. One woman said she met Brand before fame at a Labour Party conference fringe event in 1999 and was allegedly raped.

Another who worked at MTV said he grabbed her forearm by the toilets and kept saying please come in with what she described as a wild eyed look. A third described being orally raped after meeting at a party in 2004 and said he had a big weird grin as he grabbed her breasts.

The same woman said he later exposed himself in a car and said come on suck it. A fourth said she was pushed against a wall at Capital Radio in 2004 or 2005 and kissed sloppily and aggressively.

A fifth who met Brand at Hammersmith Apollo in 2009 said consensual activity led to an anal rape and that she spent months and years blaming herself, becoming anxious and unwell. She texted him you treated me like an animal and he allegedly replied I am sorry. The sixth alleges he demanded a massage on a work assignment in 2009.

Brand rose to fame in the early 2000s with Big Brothers Big Mouth, Radio and Hollywood films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He was married to US singer Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012 and later reinvented himself as a wellness author and online commentator.

The case follows a 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches and The Times investigation which first aired similar allegations. Police then investigated, charges were brought in 2025 and the trial opened on 12 October 2026 at Southwark Crown Court. The jury is eight men and four women and the trial is expected to run for around 10 weeks.

The prosecution must prove each offence beyond reasonable doubt. The defence position is that Brand never engaged in non consensual activity and that if one early encounter happened he does not remember it.

The Crown will continue its opening and call evidence from the complainants. The defence will then open its case. The judge has told jurors to ignore the 2023 documentary and press coverage and focus only on evidence in court. A verdict is not expected until December.

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