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By Shane Croucher and Hollie Silverman
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The actor and comedian Russell Brand has been charged with rape in Britain. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England said it had authorized London's Metropolitan Police to charge him with several sexual offenses.
Prosecutors said they reviewed the evidence from a police investigation that followed a television news documentary on the U.K.'s Channel 4 in 2023, and concluded that Brand should face charges.
Russell Brand Charges
Brand is charged with two counts of rape, indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 2.
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The charges relate to "reported non-recent offences between 1999 and 2005, involving four women," Jaswant Narwal, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for London North at the CPS, said in a statement.
Newsweek has contacted Russell Brand's team through general email addresses listed on his official website for comment.
"The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial," Narwal said.
"It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings."
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Brand Quit U.K. for U.S. After Backlash
Back in February, Brand said in a Rumble video he had left the U.K. "because I personally have experienced how the media, government and judiciary—if you suddenly become an inconvenience—will find ways to attack and shut you down."
Brand reportedly moved from rural Oxfordshire in England to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
In recent years, Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built up a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories.
He attended the RNC in 2024 and has found new allies in the MAGA movement. He has also recently been baptized.
'Absolutely, Always Consensual'
Responding to the allegations previously in 2023, Brand said he had been open that he was "very, very promiscuous" while working in the entertainment industry earlier in his career.
"Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual," Brand said, noting the "very serious allegations that I absolutely refute."
The Get Him To The Greek actor is known for his unbridled and risqué standup routines.
Brand hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in several Hollywood movies and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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