Russell Brand, Bible in hand, pleads not guilty to new charges of rape and sexual assault

London – British media personality and former comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty to two new charges of rape and sexual assault in a London court on Tuesday.

Brand, once a left-wing political activist who has rebranded himself as a conservative guru to millions of followers on social media, arrived at Southwark crown court carrying a copy of the Bible, with several pages marked as favourites.

He was wearing a fedora, a leopard-print shirt that exposed much of his chest, and a dark coat.

Brand denied charges of sexually assaulting a woman in London in 2009 and raping another woman that same year, also in the British capital.

His bail was renewed at the end of a brief hearing and his trial will take place in June.

According to UK police, the 50-year-old man faces charges of sexual offenses involving a total of six women.

mark begged not guilty in may to five other charges relating to four women: one count of rape, one of oral rape, two of sexual assault and one of indecent assault between 1999 and 2005.

“These new charges relate to two other women and are in addition to charges brought against Brand in April 2025, which involved four women,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement in December.

British law protects the identities of people who allege sexual violence.

Born in 1975 to working-class parents in Essex, east London, Brand began his comedy career as a teenager, working as an MTV presenter and reality series host, and later starring in Hollywood films.

She presented a show on the BBC’s Radio 2 station between 2006 and 2008, but quit after an on-air prank when she left a sexually explicit voicemail for “Fawlty Towers” actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter.