LONDON (AP) — Six women who accuse Russell Brand of sexually assaulting and raping them in separate instances have described during a London trial their encounters with the British actor and comedian.
The women, who don't know each other, allege they were assaulted by Brand between 1999 and 2009 in locations including workplaces, a hotel room and a bathroom at a bar.
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This court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook shows Russell Brand appearing during jury selection at Southwark Crown Court in London, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)
Russell Brand speaks to the media as he arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Wednesday Oct. 14, 2026. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court, London, where he faces three charges of rape, indecent assault, and three counts of sexual assault, relating to six women, on Friday Oct. 16, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Press Association via AP Images)
Comedian and actor Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 where he is charged with counts of rape and sexual assault against six women.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Comedian and actor Russell Brand, accompanied by his wife Laura Brand, arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 where he is charged with counts of rape and sexual assault against six women.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. He denies all the charges.
Prosecutors allege Brand was a “ruthless” and manipulative sexual predator who at the time had an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sexual contact.
The first woman alleged that Brand raped her in a hotel room in 1999 after she met him during a performance on the fringe of the Labour Party annual conference.
A friend of Brand's testified that some weeks after the alleged rape, the actor told him he "may have gone a bit too far” with a woman.
Another woman alleged that Brand orally raped her in 2004 in the restroom of a London bar. The woman said that she had just met Brand and was chatting to him at the bar when he suddenly grabbed her breasts then dragged her into the bathroom.
A third woman, a then 21-year-old fan, said that Brand anally raped her at his home after she met him at one of his shows in 2009.
Three other women also testified about alleged assaults in their workplaces.
One of them alleged that Brand grabbed her arm and tried to drag her into the men’s bathroom at her office in 2001. Another woman alleged that he kissed and groped her at the London radio station where she worked in 2004 or 2005. A third woman said that he pressed his face into her groin and demanded a massage while recording for a television project in 2009.
The women said they didn't report the alleged assaults at the time out of shame, and because of concern that they wouldn't be believed because of Brand's celebrity status. They individually went to police to report what happened to them after a 2023 television program broadcast anonymous accusations against Brand.
Brand, who is on bail, has appeared in the courtroom with his wife, Laura Gallacher, throughout the trial. He listened intently from the dock, and sat expressionless much of the time as his accusers told of their encounters with him.
In police interviews, he denied ever engaging in nonconsensual sexual activity.
The actor's lawyer, Ian Winter, questioned the women's accounts during the trial. He's expected to argue that sexual encounters from Brand's past have been “reimagined” when he outlines his case next week.
It's not clear if Brand himself will testify. The trial is expected to last up to 10 weeks.
Known for risque stand-up comedy routines and battles with drugs and alcohol, Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s, hosting television programs and his own BBC radio show. He appeared in Hollywood films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek" and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.
But in the past decade, he has largely moved away from mainstream media after he relocated to Florida and amassed millions of followers on social media with videos mixing wellness, conspiracy theories and discussions of his religious devotion.
Brand has come under increased scrutiny in recent years after multiple allegations of sexual assault surfaced. Last year, the BBC said that concerns about his behavior — including complaints that he had sex on the broadcaster's premises and exposed himself in the studio — weren't handled appropriately because of his status.
The Associated Press doesn’t name victims of alleged sexual violence, and British law protects their identities from the media for life.
This court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook shows Russell Brand appearing during jury selection at Southwark Crown Court in London, Monday Oct. 12, 2026. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)
Russell Brand speaks to the media as he arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Wednesday Oct. 14, 2026. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court, London, where he faces three charges of rape, indecent assault, and three counts of sexual assault, relating to six women, on Friday Oct. 16, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Press Association via AP Images)
Comedian and actor Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 where he is charged with counts of rape and sexual assault against six women.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Comedian and actor Russell Brand, accompanied by his wife Laura Brand, arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 where he is charged with counts of rape and sexual assault against six women.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds.
An indictment unsealed on Thursday charged Lucas and six other defendants, including several of her relatives, the Department of Justice said in a statement ahead of a news conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Lucas surrendered on Thursday, a Justice Department spokesperson said.
The charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, came after the FBI searched Lucas' hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May. At the time of the search, Lucas — who has been a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump’s administration — characterized it as an attempt to intimidate her.
“This is the circus we always expected it to be, and we will wait for further details to have a more specific response,” Brian Woolfolk, chief counsel for the L. Louise Lucas Legal Defense Fund, told the AP on Thursday.
The brash 82-year-old lawmaker has spent decades ascending the ranks of Virginia politics and has served since 1992 in the state Senate, where she is the president pro tempore, overseeing the chamber in the lieutenant governor’s absence. More significantly, she leads the powerful Senate finance committee, through which all legislation with any budget impact must flow. She’s used the position to stop and ultimately kill legislation she opposes.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that the charges allege “Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise, ‘the Lucas Enterprise’ — using Lucas’ position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves.”
“No one is above the law," the statement said, "and this FBI will continue to follow the facts with our Justice Department and ensure those responsible for criminal conduct are held accountable.”
Lucas has been a leading voice in Democrats’ ultimately failed attempt to redistrict the state’s congressional map this year, a bid to hedge against Republican efforts in other states to redraw maps for their advantage in midterm elections.
A forceful advocate of legalizing marijuana, Lucas partnered in opening the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021, selling hemp and CBD products. While marijuana is legal to possess in Virginia, recreational retail sales of the drug are not yet underway, though shops across the state do sell other cannabis-derived products.
Lucas also runs a network of companies that provide residential, transportation and other services to adults with intellectual disabilities.
Court records related to the case for months have been sealed, though earlier this year the Department of Justice sent at least two rounds of letters notifying journalists, politicians and others in Lucas’ orbit that their communications with Lucas had been intercepted as part of a court-approved wiretap that ran for two one-month time spans.
At the time of the search, many Democrats spoke up to defend Lucas, expressing skepticism about the basis for the search, given the Department of Justice’s efforts to establish criminal conduct by perceived Trump opponents.
A person familiar with the matter told the AP at the time that the probe was opened during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
Lucas has publicly spoken about her ownership stake in the cannabis shop as recently as June, though her most recent financial disclosure forms do not list the business by name.
Lucas, who represents a state Senate district that includes her hometown of coastal Portsmouth, operates with a sometimes-profane, unapologetic style that’s drawn comparisons with Trump.
She amassed a six-figure following on X and national attention, using the social media platform to advocate forcefully for her priorities and to bash her critics, including former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. She’s also occasionally blasted members of her own party, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger, with whom she’s had disagreements.
Earlier this year, Lucas helped lead Democrats’ ultimately unsuccessful plan to gerrymander the blue-leaning state’s congressional districts into a map intended to elect 10 Democrats and only one Republican. Along the way, she posted quips about four GOP members the intended map sought to oust, joking that they soon would be working at McDonald’s. She and other Democrats defended the maps as a reasonable response to Trump-backed efforts to boost the GOP’s midterm advantage in other states.
The AP was seeking comment Thursday from Spanberger and Democratic legislative leaders.
Lucas has notched several historic firsts in her career. According to a biography from the state library, in 1971 she became the Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s first female shipfitter, a physically demanding job that involves working on metal assemblies for vessels.
She launched her political career in 1984, when, the biography said, she became the first Black woman elected to the Portsmouth city council.
In her decades in the state Senate, Lucas has been a staunch advocate for abortion rights and increased public school funding and a leading voice on issues of racial justice and civil rights.
In 2019, after Democrats flipped control of the chamber, her peers elected her to serve as president pro tempore. And in 2024, she was tapped to lead the chamber’s budget committee, gaining enormous sway over any legislation tied to the state budget. In that post, she played a leading role in killing Youngkin’s proposal to bring Washington’s NBA and NHL teams to a proposed $2 billion development in Virginia.
Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporter Eric Tucker contributed from Washington.
FILE - Virginia Senate President pro tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, listens to debate on the Senate floor, Feb. 17, 2026, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Ryan M. Kelly, File)
