What We Know About Russell Brand's New Rape Complaints

Russell Brand is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police over rape allegations made by two additional women, the force said, days after a jury convicted him of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault following a three-week trial at Southwark Crown Court, according to the BBC.

What are the new complaints against Brand?

The BBC reported that two more women have come forward with rape allegations against Brand, though details of those complaints have not been made public. Det Supt Andy Furphy, who led the Metropolitan Police inquiry, told the BBC he expects more women to contact investigators now that the trial has concluded, saying he hoped they would gain "courage" and "confidence" from the guilty verdicts.

What was Brand convicted of at Southwark Crown Court?

A jury of eight men and four women found Brand, 51, guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault, the BBC reported. In court, Brand was described as "ruthless" and a "sexual predator." Some of the women involved in the case said they had been left "haunted for years" by his conduct, according to the BBC.

How did detectives build the three-year case?

The Metropolitan Police investigation, named Operation Actinolite, began after The Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches jointly reported in September 2023 that four women had accused Brand of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse — claims he denied at the time. "We kind of assumed that people might want to come forward," Furphy told the BBC, "and people came forward."

Officers said they took more than 340 witness statements, including from Brand's former employers, ex-colleagues and associates. One officer was assigned to read Brand's books and watch his stand-up specials, DVDs and podcasts to help build the case, the BBC reported. Investigators faced an added difficulty: the allegations were "non-recent," with the earliest dating back 27 years, meaning no CCTV footage or forensic evidence was available.

Why do officers expect more victims to come forward?

Furphy told the BBC that Brand had initially been "coy and quiet" in police interviews but grew bolder as questioning continued. "As he gets used to something, he becomes more emboldened by it," Furphy said. "You can certainly see that in his offending." Several witnesses who had previously had a sexual relationship with Brand also came forward during the investigation, according to the BBC. Katy Perry, the singer who was married to Brand from 2010 to 2012, was not interviewed by police.

What happens next?

The BBC did not report a timeline for how the two new complaints will be assessed or whether charges will follow. Brand's high public profile and the scale of media coverage around him were described by Furphy as challenges for investigators throughout the three-year operation. The Metropolitan Police has not said how many total reports it has received since the case became public in 2023, beyond confirming the two newest complaints under review.