Russell Brand, 51, was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison today after a jury found him guilty of raping a fan in 2009 and sexually assaulting three other women over five years during the peak of his career. The former comedian's wedding anniversary gift to his wife, Laura Gallacher, once left fans "terrified."
Brand faced seven charges in total: three of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault. He was acquitted of raping a woman at a hotel in Bournemouth in 1999, during the Labour Party conference at which Brand had been performing at a cabaret show.
Sentencing and court support
His wife, Laura Gallacher, whom he married in 2017, arrived at court earlier this morning to support her husband. She sat to the front right of the dock, behind Brand's father, Ron, before they were instructed to move to the public gallery. She watched as her husband was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years behind bars for raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others.
Brand was also convicted of sexually assaulting an MTV worker at a Soho bar, a woman at the Choice FM studios and a Channel 4 worker who had been forced to give him a massage.
The anniversary video
On the first anniversary of his wedding to his second wife, Brand took to his X, then known as Twitter, to share a rather sinister gift for Laura. In a video, Russell sang: "Old as ancient skies, I've had these wandering eyes, but you took me by surprise, when you let me inside of you."
"Inside of you, inside of you, I long to be; is it wrong to be inside of you? Inside of you, inside of you. Happy anniversary, Laura. Thanks, Jason, for that song. Bye." The song, Inside of You, was performed by Brand's character, Aldous Snow, from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, written by Jason Segel.
The post, shared on August 26, 2018, was soon flooded with comments from fans who were disturbed by it. One said: "It's all about sex with him, very creepy. She is certainly feeding him well when he isn't inside her; fat and scruffy, no other woman will want him now." A second penned: "You are such an a*s." "Creepy," replied a third. Meanwhile, a fourth commented: "Just a wee bit terrifying no matter which way you look at it." A fifth typed: "Clearly missing something here. Creepy!"
Acquittals and verdict
Brand denied all the allegations throughout the trial. He was found not guilty of an attempted indecent assault offence when he was accused of grabbing a woman's arm and pulling her towards a toilet in 2001 in central London. He was also found not guilty of orally raping a woman in a toilet at a bar in London, an attack alleged to have happened when they had been at a birthday party together in Soho.
Brand was jailed at Southwark Crown Court for 10-and-a-half years for raping a woman and sexually assaulting three others during his showbiz career.
