Russell Brand Gets a 2026 Trial Date

Russell Brand has a year to prepare for his rape trial. In a brief court appearance in London on Friday, the comedian and actor pleaded not guilty to one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape, and two counts of sexual assault, CNN reports. Brand will remain on conditional bail until his trial, which is scheduled to begin on June 3 next year, reports People. Brand, who turns 50 next week, was charged last month in connection with alleged attacks on four women between 1999 and 2005. The trial is expected to last around five weeks.

Brand arrived at Southwark Crown Court accompanied by attorney Oliver Schneider-Sikorsky, who successfully defended Kevin Spacey against sexual assault allegations, the Telegraph reports. In 2023, police in London said they received a "number of allegations" after a British media investigation found that four women, some of them in the US, had accused Brand of sexually assaulting them between 2006 and 2013. (More Russell Brand stories.)