Actor and comedian Russell Brand has been sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison after being convicted of rape and sexual assault.

JUST IN: Russell Brand Convicted Of Rape And Sexual Assault By London Jury

Judge Joel Bennathan said the 51-year-old had “become a sexual predator” during his rise to stardom.

“You were clever – and in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic,” the judge said, according to CNN.

“You had also become a sexual predator," he added.

"You will serve two-thirds of that sentence, then be released on license and will be liable to be recalled into custody if you breach its terms," he continued.

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Brand, who frequently boasted about his sexual exploits over the years as part of his polarizing public persona, did not show any emotion as his sentence was delivered, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency. He told his wife Laura Gallacher “we’ll be OK,” and the couple had a brief conversation before he was taken away.

The father of three was convicted by a jury in a London court last week of raping a 21-year-old woman in 2009 and sexually assaulting three other women as he rose to fame in the 2000s. He was acquitted of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

The allegations and charges against Brand stemmed from 1999 and the following decade when he went from an unknown stand-up comic and underground presenter to one of the most recognizable faces on British television.

Detectives started looking into the former star after several women came forward with allegations following a 2023 investigation from three British media outlets: The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4, in which, he was accused of sexual abuse by several women, who were different from the six accusers at his trial. Brand has also denied any wrongdoing regarding those allegations.

During the four-week trial, Brand acknowledged being a highly promiscuous man who enjoyed sex but insisted that encounters had been consensual. The prosecution argued brand was ruthless and calculating in his relentless pursuit of a personal goal to bed 5,000 women.

According to The New York Times, the judge said the women's testimony showed Brand's “staggering arrogance” and his belief that “fame meant you could act how you liked, when you liked, unhindered by the rules by which decent people live.”

“Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say ‘no’ and to demand justice from the criminal courts when sexual predators like you, Russell Brand, act without their consent,” Bennathan said.

“Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary, and in many ways more important than the sex itself," Brand told the jury while maintaining his innocence, Deadline noted.

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During Monday’s hearing, the woman in the 2004 episode appeared in court, concealed by a screen, and said that her encounter with the comedian had caused her to lose “any love for myself for a long time.” She added that “it was impossible to escape” Mr. Brand because of his media profile, and that she often saw him “being celebrated for his disgusting behavior against women like it was all a joke.”

The woman he was convicted of raping said in a statement read out to the court that before the episode she had aspired to pursue stand-up comedy, but afterward she “felt unable to continue, because the thought of encountering Russell Brand, or even hearing his name, caused me anxiety and fear.” She said she had turned to alcohol to block out her “feelings and memories” of the rape.

The woman Mr. Brand was convicted of assaulting in 2005 described him in her statement as “a sexual predator who has no remorse for how his behavior has impacted my life.” She added, “I just hope that he is not allowed to hurt any more women.”

Ian Winter, Mr. Brand’s lawyer, told the court that Mr. Brand was “a fundamentally different person now” compared with who he was at time of the offenses. Mr. Winter said that Mr. Brand’s behavior at the time was perhaps a “consequence” of his increasing fame.

Mr. Winter also asked the judge to take into account Mr. Brand’s family, including his three young children. “We invite mercy,” the lawyer said, urging the judge to also consider Mr. Brand’s charitable work helping people recover from addiction.

In sentencing, Mr. Bennathan said that the prison term was a “sad loss” for Mr. Brand’s children, but that he had brought that on them himself.

 

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