Russell Brand says that he couldn't find anyone willing to testify on his behalf in rape case

“My entire life has been consumed by these allegations. I have devoted myself to these matters,” he said today, per Sky News. He said that a 2023 documentary detailing the alleged rapes “was devastating,” and when asked by a lawyer whether anyone “would touch him with a bargepole,” Brand said “no.” He also claimed that a hospital “had to bar my attendance and presence” while his infant son received surgery and that he hasn’t been able to convince anyone to testify on his behalf. 

The proceedings then went into the details of specific sexual encounters dating back to 1999. When asked for his thoughts about consent, Brand said, “Consent is a fundamental, essential and necessary, and in many ways more important than sex itself.” Brand denied the allegation of rape from this 1999 incident. When asked about a 2001 incident—which yesterday saw its related charge downgraded from indecent assault to attempted indecent assualt—Brand claimed to have no memory of meeting the accuser. When asked about a 2004 incident where a woman accused Brand of orally raping her in a men’s room, Brand said, “I recollect that the environment was unsuitable for me to meet the goal… of getting it off.” He also denied assaulting a woman at Choice FM in the mid-2000s, and denied allegations of anal rape from another instance in 2009. Brand’s trial will continue tomorrow.