Los Angeles, March 30 – Actor-comedian Russell Brand’s rape trial will now begin in October. The trial was originally scheduled to take place in June.
In April 2025, he was charged with rape, indecent assault, and sexual assault in connection with four women, according to ‘Deadline’ reports.
In December, London’s Metropolitan Police brought fresh charges of rape and sexual assault against Brand, relating to two more women. Justice Joel Bennathan has now combined the two sets of charges and set a trial date of October 12, meaning it could last for around two months, rather than five weeks during the summer, according to reports from the Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
As per ‘Deadline’, there were also concerns about finding jurors who could sit through the start of the summer holidays.
Brand denies all charges and has welcomed the opportunity to defend himself in court. “I now have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I am incredibly grateful for that,” he said last year. Brand, 50, was not present in court for Monday’s hearing.
Among the charges against Brand, he is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room in Bournemouth in 1999, and of grabbing the breasts of a TV worker and sexually assaulting her in 2004.
The actor and comedian, who was married to Katy Perry, has reinvented himself as a Christian convert who evangelizes about free speech and free thinking in MAGA America. He helped avoid a potential extradition headache for UK authorities by appearing in court in May.
Russell Brand began his career in stand-up comedy and gained prominence as a presenter on UK television and radio. He transitioned to film with roles in ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and ‘Get Him to the Greek’. He has published books like ‘My Booky Wook’ and ‘Revolution’.
