Russell Brand's U.K. sexual assault, rape trial begins: A timeline of allegations, charges

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Set us as preferred British comedian-actor Russell Brand will stand before a jury in the United Kingdom this month, in the culmination of a years-long legal saga centered on his alleged history of sexual assault against multiple women in the U.K.spanning from the late 1990s through the late aughts.

The criminal trial against Brand, former star of R-rated comedies “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” began Monday at Southwark Crown Court with jury selection.The trial will proceed later this week with prosecution set to present its case against the 51-year-old actor.

Brand faces a total of seven criminal charges — including three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault — stemming from his alleged interactions with six different women.The actor has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges, and his trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks, according to the Associated Press.

Brand, the ex-husband of pop star Katy Perry, was most famous during the early aughts and 2010s for films also including “Bedtime Stories,” “Despicable Me,” “Arthur,” “Rock of Ages” and “Trolls.” In recent years, he pivoted away from the Hollywood spotlight and instead turned turned his focus to religious and “free thinking” content.He has notably platformed conspiracy theories about vaccines and the 9/11 attacks.

Read on for what led up to Brand’s trial, from the scathing 2023 joint investigation by the Times of London and Channel 4, to the allegations against the ex comedian.The following includes graphic details of sexual assault.

Brand played the hyper-sexual, womanizing types on-screen, but also earned a reputation for his inappropriate behavior off-screen.In 2006, Australian singer Dannii Minogue recalled a comment Brand made about her breasts and called the comedian-actor “a bit of ...