Apr 05, 2025 10:04 PM IST
The formidable #MeToo is dragging yet another Hollywood heavyweight down — this time it’s Katy Perry’s ex-husband Russell Brand
Five counts of sexual assault and rape from four women — that’s what Russell Brand was charged with, yesterday, April 4. These allegations had first crept in September 2023, during a joint investigation being conducted by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 current affairs show Dispatches. Following a thorough investigation by the Metropolitan Police, Russell now stands charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual assault. While the incident of rape is believed to have taken place in a south England town in 1999, the indecent assault reportedly occurred in London in 2001; the oral rape coupled with one count of sexual assault is said to have taken place in London three years later and the final count of sexual assault is believed to have also taken place in London between 2004 and 2005. One of these women alleged that she was all of 16 at the time of the said ordeal, with Russell having been 30 at the time. Her version of events quotes Russell as saying, “I don’t give a f*** if you’re 12…I need to know where I stand legally” during their ‘first date’.
The resurgence of this news has the internet in a no-holds-bar situation: “Thank God Katy divorced him”, “Serious Charles Manson vibes”, “Not surprised at all”, “Crazy eyes”, “Good. Long overdue”, “His crazy eyes.”, “about time 👏”, “Well he was a friend of diddy’s” and “I’ve always thought of him as a creepy guy, now I know why” read some of the initial reactions.
A day before the investigation came to light, Russell had refuted the claims in advance on his social media handles. An excerpt from it read, “These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual”. His only fault as per him, was being “too transparent”.
Russell is set to appear in front of the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on May 2.
