LAHORE – British comedian and actor Russell Brand, on trial for a string of alleged historical sex offences, told a court on Wednesday that consent was non-negotiable as he rejected allegations which he said had had a “devastating” effect on his life. Prosecutors, however, accused him of tailoring his testimony to fit the evidence in the trial. Brand, once a regular figure on British television and star of a number of Hollywood movies, was giving evidence at London’s Southwark Crown Court where he is accused of three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and an attempted indecent assault involving six women between 1999 and 2009. The 51-year-old former husband of US singer Katy Perry denies all the allegations. Appearing in the witness box in the third week of his trial, Brand said “no” loudly and clearly when his lawyer asked him if he had committed any of the alleged crimes. The jury has previously been told how all the complainants came forward to detectives after a documentary was broadcast in 2023 alongwith a number of newspaper articles in which anonymous allegations were made by other women who are not involved in the trial. Brand, wearing a black suit with an open-neck white shirt and a loose black tie, said the impact had been “devastating” and not a single person would give evidence on his behalf. Asked by his lawyer Ian Winter if his friends would “touch you with a bargepole”, he replied: “No”.
Brand, who said his 14-month marriage to Katy Perry in 2010 had brought him “staggering fame”, said he had even been barred by a hospital from staying with his son after he had had open heart surgery.