UK comedian Russell Brand faces new rape, assault charges
UK police said two new charges, of rape and sexual assault, had been issued on Tuesday against the British comedian and actor.
British comedian Russell Brand has acknowledged sleeping with a 16-year-old girl when he was at the height of his fame, but said while it was “exploitative” it was not illegal.
“The age of consent is 16 and I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30,” Brand told US right-wing host Megyn Kelly in a YouTube show broadcast Wednesday.
“But when I was 30, I was a very different person. I was a lot younger and I was an immature 30-year-old.” He insisted it had been a consensual encounter, but added, “when you’re a famous man that has the ability to attract women… I think involves exploitation”.
“I think it is exploitative,” Brand admitted to Kelly on her show, adding: “I recognise that my sexual conduct in the past was selfish and I did not apply enough consideration… to how that sex was affecting other people.”
The 50-year-old, who was once married to US pop star Katy Perry, has pleaded not guilty to sexual offence charges in the UK involving a total of six women, including rape and sexual assault.
His trial is due to start in October in a London court.
Brand, once a left-leaning political campaigner, has rebranded himself as a conservative and Christian guru to millions of social media followers.
Born in 1975 to working-class parents in Essex, east of London, Brand began his stand-up career as a teenager, eventually working as an MTV presenter and host of a reality TV series.
He presented a show on the BBC’s Radio 2 station between 2006 and 2008, but quit after an on-air prank when he left an explicit voicemail for Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.