Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty at Southwark Crown Court to two further sexual offences, including rape.
The 50-year-old appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London to face one charge of rape and one of sexual assault, both alleged to have taken place in London in 2009.
When asked by Sky News how he was feeling as he entered the court, Brand replied: ‘Blessed.’
He was seen carrying a blue book with the words Holy Bible on the cover, with post-it notes attached inside.
Brand spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his not guilty pleas from the dock during the short hearing.
Brand pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault last year when facing five previous charges – two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault – with a trial scheduled to begin at Southwark Crown Court on June 16, 2026.
Brand has now pleaded not guilty to seven charges in total: Three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault.
Detectives began investigating in September 2023 after several allegations from alleged victims.
Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times then alleged several offences taking place between the late 90s and early noughties.
Brand has maintained his innocence when it comes to previous charges, and claimed that any encounters were ‘consensual’, while declaring he was ‘never was a rapist’.
He said: ‘When I was young and single, before I had my wife and family… 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 have never engaged in non-consensual activity.’
A court previously heard that Brand is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room while she attended a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and grabbing a TV worker’s breasts and orally raping her after dragging her into a male toilet.
He is also alleged to have grabbed a radio station worker’s face, pushing her against a wall and kissing her before groping her breasts and buttocks.
The other charge of the original five alleges the actor indecently assaulted another woman after grabbing her forearm and attempting to drag her into a male toilet.
Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi from the Metropolitan Police, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement to the press on December 23: ‘The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
‘The Met’s investigation remains ongoing, and detectives urge anyone affected by this case, or anyone with information, to come forward and speak with police.
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