Russell Brand has been accused of further violence towards women as he spent the first night of his prison sentence behind bars. The disgraced actor and comedian learned on Monday (November 9) that he would be jailed for 10-and-a-half years for raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three TV and radio workers during his rise to fame.
Last week saw Brand convicted after a trial at Southwark Crown Court of abuse against four victims. During the trial, one of his fans told how she was raped as a 21-year-old by Brand in 2009 at his luxury London home, while female staffers at Channel 4, MTV, and Capital Radio came forward to reveal how they had been sexually assaulted by the TV star.
Judge condemns 'staggering arrogance'
Mr Justice Bennathan slammed Brand's 'staggering arrogance' as he issued his sentence. He told Brand: "About 20 years ago Russell Brand, you were becoming famous, you were clever, and in many people's eyes you were funny and charismatic. You had also become a sexual predator."
Brand was told by the judge that his 'status protected you' until journalists from the Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches first exposed a litany of sexual misconduct in 2023, leading to women making complaints to police. The judge added that Brand had a 'casual arrogant disregard to any woman's right to say no to you', while his fame meant he believed 'you could act when you liked and how you liked'.
New allegations from Jemima Goldsmith
Showing no emotion as he was handed a custodial sentence, Brand told his wife, Laura Gallacher, 'we'll be okay' before he was taken downstairs by dock officers at Southwark Crown Court. Just hours after his sentencing, Jemima Goldsmith, who reportedly dated Brand for around a year in 2014, shared a post on X, previously known as Twitter, in which she claimed she had to call the police on Brand to get him removed during a 'violent incident'.
Ms Goldsmith wrote that she has neither seen nor spoken to Brand since her own experience of his 'violence, coercive control and abuse'. The lengthy post saw Ms Goldsmith, 52, say she was 'in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand's trial' and was 'glad and relieved' he had 'finally faced justice'.
Ms Goldsmith is the former wife of ex-Pakistani prime minister and cricketer Imran Khan, the daughter of late billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Goldsmith and sister of ex-Conservative government minister Zac Goldsmith. She said in her post that she decided not to pursue legal recourse against Brand over the alleged violent incident in 2014 as she was 'worried about the impact of the press attention on my then teenage children'.
"Whilst my pain in relation to this pales in comparison to what the women have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life which has had a lasting impact," she wrote.
Sentence and release terms
Prior to his sentencing, Brand had already spent four nights in a cell. He is expected to serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before being released on licence and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.
