By Olaitan Ibrahim
The United Kingdom, UK Police have charged popular actor and comedian Russell Brand with rape and multiple counts of assault over several allegations between 1999 and 2005.
A statement from the police said Brand, who lives in Oxfordshire, southern England, was charged with one count of rape, assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual assault.
According to the statement, the charges relate to four separate women.
The Crown Prosecution Service, CPS in England, said on Friday that it had authorized London’s Metropolitan Police with several sexual offenses.
Prosecutors declared that they reviewed the evidence after a police investigation that followed a television news documentary on the UK’s Channel 4 in 2023.
Jaswant Narwal of the CPS said in a statement that they “have concluded that Russell Brand should be charged with the alleged offences.
“These relate to reported non-recent offences between 1999 and 2005, involving four women”, Narwal said.
Brand is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 2nd. Reacting later to the allegations, Brand asserted that he has “never been a rapist”.
The 49-year-old further accused the government of turning the law into “a weapon”.
In a video posted to X on Friday afternoon, Brand thanked his supporters and stated his intention to contest the allegations in court.
“I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile,” he said.
“But what I never was, was a rapist. I have never engaged in non-consensual activity — I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
The Metropolitan Police have now charged Brand with one count each of rape, indecent assault, and oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault. These charges relate to allegations made by four separate women, with the incidents said to have occurred between 1999 and 2005.