Comedian Russell Brand sentenced to more than a decade in prison

British comedian and Hollywood star Russell Brand was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for rape and sexual assault by the Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday (November 9, 2026). Brand, 51, was found guilty on Thursday (November 5, 2026) by the court of rape and three counts of sexual assault and not guilty on three other counts. He was charged in relation to a total of seven crimes. His crimes were committed between 2004 and 2009. The court found him guilty of raping a woman in 2009 at his home, after meeting her at a comedy show in the Hammersmith neighbourhood of London. Brand has the possibility of being released in about seven years subject to conditions, the judge said.

“The consequences of what happened have affected almost every aspect of my life. Even now, I continue to experience anxiety, difficulties with trust, reduced confidence and the lasting effects of trauma,” the woman who was raped said on Monday (November 9, 2026) at the sentencing.

One of his victims said she was in “shock and turmoil” and did not “have any respect” for herself as a result of the attack on her. The judge referred to Brand as a “sexual predator”.

Brand had argued during the trial that while his past behaviour had been “wrong”, he had never forced himself on anybody. The actor was formerly a left-wing activist. In the early years of the current decade, he moved to the right, becoming skeptical of vaccines and the origins of COVID-19, building bonds with big names in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, including the President’s son, Donald Trump Jr., tech billionaire Elon Musk , commentators Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health Secretary. In September, Brand participated in a video call event for the MAHA, Make America Healthy Again, movement, which is headed by Mr. Kennedy Jr. Brand converted to Christianity more recently and was baptized in the Thames in 2024.