WATCH HERE: Russell Brand tells GB News outside of trial he ‘prays for everyone involved’
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A judge at Southwark Crown Court has directed jurors to acquit Russell Brand of an indecent assault charge at the midway point of his trial, replacing it with a lesser allegation of attempted indecent assault.
Mr Justice Bennathan ruled on Tuesday morning that there was not enough evidence to sustain the original charge, which related to a 2001 incident in which Mr Brand allegedly seized a female MTV worker by the arm and attempted to pull her into a toilet.
The judge ordered that count two on the indictment be altered to reflect the new, reduced charge.
To formalise the process, a male juror seated at the end of one row was selected to deliver the not guilty verdict on the original indecent assault count.
Mr Brand has pleaded not guilty to the replacement charge of attempted indecent assault. He denies all seven counts he faces, which include rape and sexual assault.
Explaining his decision to the jury, Mr Justice Bennathan said that one of his responsibilities at the close of the prosecution case was to assess whether sufficient evidence existed for jurors to reach a verdict on each count.
“Not to decide whether the evidence is accurate or false, whether the defendant is guilty or not, but to review whether there is evidence that the jury could return a verdict,” he told the courtroom.
“In respect of count two, I have reached the decision that there is insufficient evidence of indecent assault. That is my decision, not yours. You will be directed to return a not guilty verdict in count two.”
The judge described the procedural steps as a “slightly artificial process” before confirming that Mr Brand had entered a not guilty plea to the newly added count.
Before the judge’s ruling on the charge, the jury heard the contents of four police interviews conducted with Mr Brand between November 2023 and July 2025.
He was not shown photographs of the complainants prior to any of the sessions.
In his first prepared statement, read during the November 2023 interview, Mr Brand acknowledged his formerly promiscuous lifestyle but insisted he had “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.”
He claimed that a “defamatory and fictitious documentary” broadcast in September 2023, alongside reports in two national newspapers, had prompted a wave of false accusations.
Both the media and police had “publicly invited additional allegations to be made, which has resulted in further encounters to be invented or reimagined,” his statement read.
Regarding the MTV worker specifically, Mr Brand said he did not recall her name or meeting her.
However, he acknowledged it was “likely” he had attended the birthday party where the alleged offences against the MTV worker took place, adding: “I have had consensual sex in toilet cubicles during parties.
“I have never forced anyone into a toilet, and I have never forced my penis into anyone’s mouth.”
In a subsequent statement from December 2023, Mr Brand told officers he had kissed “hundreds” of members of the public at live shows, press events and book signings, and that photographs of such encounters were widely available online.
His final two prepared statements, from January 2024 and July 2025, reiterated that he had “sexual encounters in countless locations and scenarios” but maintained these were “always consensual” and had been “unfavourably reframed” years later following media coverage.
Mr Brand denies all seven charges.
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