British court charges podcaster Russell Brand with rape and sexual assault

Public figure Russell Brand, ex-husband of Katy Perry in the past decade, has been charged with crimes related to sexual violence in the United Kingdom.

London's Metropolitan Police made an announcement Friday detailing that the charges against Brand pertain to offenses committed throughout almost the entirety of Brand's professional career. "Women who have made complaints continue to receive support from specially trained officers," London Police said in a statement.

Brand is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, May 2.

Over the past several years, Brand has faced accusations of sexual assault. In 2023, a group of women recounted a series of abuses that occurred between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame working as a host for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and acting in Hollywood films.

Brand denied those allegations after they came to light, saying that while he had been sexually promiscuous, all interactions "were absolutely always consensual."

Brand is charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual battery. The police allegations range from a 1999 rape in the Bournemouth area to a woman being sexually assaulted in the Westminster area of London between 2004 and 2005.