Russell Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison on Monday after a London jury convicted him of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Judge Joel Bennathan delivered the sentence at Southwark Crown Court, four days after the jury returned its verdicts on November 5. His remarks were broadcast live on Sky News on a short delay, and he did not hold back.
“About 20 years ago, Russell Brand, you were becoming famous,” the judge said. “You were clever, and in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic. You had also become a sexual predator.”
Bennathan said Brand’s celebrity protected him until 2023, when The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches published the allegations that launched the police investigation. He described Brand’s treatment of women as “staggering arrogance” and criticized the people around him for indulging his behavior.
“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.
The rape count carried the heaviest weight. The woman in that case was raped at Brand’s home in Hampstead, after which he ordered her to change the sheets and had his driver escort her out. She told the court she feared she had contracted HIV. The judge said Brand removing a condom and ejaculating inside her without her consent made the crime more serious.
Bennathan set the rape sentence at nine years, down from 10 because of mitigating factors. Those included Brand’s work helping people struggling with addiction, the character witnesses who spoke for him, and the fact that he has not been accused of any other crimes in 17 years. The three sexual assault counts brought terms of nine months, 18 months and eight months. Those three run at the same time as one another but are added on top of the rape sentence, bringing the total to 10 years and six months.
Made to order and shipped to your door.
Brand must serve two thirds of that time before he can be released on licence, the British system where a prisoner finishes the rest of the sentence in the community under supervision and can be sent back for breaking the rules.
Before ordering him taken down to the cells, the judge paid tribute to the women who testified. “All those women had to face being confronted and being told they lied, or twisted the truth, or they’d agreed to your sexual demands,” he said.
Brand showed no emotion as the sentence was read. He held a rosary and prayed, then told his wife, Laura Gallacher, “We’ll be OK.” The couple spoke briefly before he was led away.
The jury did not convict on every charge. Brand faced seven counts involving six women, covering incidents between 1999 and 2009. He was acquitted of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. That last count started as indecent assault, but the judge reduced it during trial because there was not enough evidence to support the original charge.
Brand has been in custody since the verdict. He was free on bail throughout the trial, but the judge refused to release him again ahead of sentencing, telling him a prison term “of some length” was coming.
Brand was charged in April 2025 after an 18 month investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police. He denied every allegation from the start, saying in a video at the time, “I have never engaged in non-consensual activity.” He pleaded not guilty to all counts. His trial was originally set for June 2026 but was pushed to October to avoid the summer holidays.
Before his legal troubles, Brand was known to American audiences for films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, and for his marriage to Katy Perry from 2010 to 2012. In recent years he moved to the United States, became a Rumble streamer and political commentator, and publicly converted to Christianity. When the charges were filed, Tucker Carlson called on the Trump administration to “rescue” Brand, calling the case “political and absurd.”
Andy Furphy of the Metropolitan Police said the verdict was “first and foremost a testament to the extraordinary courage, resilience and determination of the women who reported what happened to them.”
