Russell Brand to be sentenced on Monday after rape and sexual assault convictions

Comedian and actor Russell Brand has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault, and a London judge will hand down his sentence on Monday.

On Thursday, after a four-week trial, a jury at Southwark Crown Court in London found Brand guilty on three counts of sexual assault and one count of rape. After the verdict was delivered, Judge Joel Bennathan told Brand, 51, that he faced a "significant custodial term."

Brand, the one-time MTV host turned Christian and spiritual influencer, had denied all charges and said he never had sex without consent.

The trial examined seven historic charges brought forward by six different women. He was found guilty on four of them: raping a woman who had been to one of his comedy shows in 2009, and sexually assaulting three others between 2004 and 2009. The assaults took place at a bar, a radio station and a TV studio.

He was found not guilty of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

On Thursday, Brand's lawyer asked the judge to grant his client bail so he could spend the weekend with his three children. The judge denied the request. Instead, the one-time celebrity darling spent his first weekend in a prison cell in London.

He showed little emotion when the verdict was handed down, though his wife Laura — who has supported him throughout — quickly left the courtroom.

Many have called the verdict a significant milestone in the #MeToo movement, which has seen influential men held to account for using their power to abuse women.

Danny Shaw, a crime commentator and former BBC correspondent, said that while the maximum sentence for rape in the UK is life, 10 years is the average sentence, and Brand was likely to receive between four and 13 years in prison.

Addressing the media last week, London police detective Andy Furphy said Brand had "used his influence, status and fame to prey on women — as his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement."

Camilla Long, a journalist for The Sunday Times — one of the first newspapers that investigated allegations of abuse against Brand — wrote that sitting in courtroom 3 at Southwark Crown Court, hearing how Brand grabbed, pushed, groped and degraded his victims, was one of the most disgusting experiences of her life.

Brand has also faced allegations of crimes in the United States. In 2023, a woman, named only as "Jane Doe," accused Brand of sexually assaulting her while she was working as a film extra during the making of the 2010 comedy movie "Arthur." That year, Brand married pop star Katy Perry, though the union lasted for just over a year before they divorced.