Russell Brand takes witness stand for first time in sexual assault trial

Russell Brand testified in his defence during his ongoing rape and sexual assault trial on Wednesday.

The Forgetting Sarah Marshall actor began giving evidence in his trial, which is now in its third week, at Southwark Crown Court in London.

The 51-year-old is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of attempted indecent assault. He has consistently denied the charges, and repeated those denials in court on Wednesday.

When asked if consent was important to him, Brand told the court, "Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary and indeed in many ways more important than sex itself."

During his testimony, the comedian told his defence barrister Ian Winter KC that the 2023 Dispatches documentary, which included some allegations against him, had a "devastating" impact on his life and his friends won't touch him with a bargepole, with nobody agreeing to testify on his behalf.

Brand also claimed that because of the documentary and newspaper reports, he was not allowed to stay with his son at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital after he had open-heart surgery.

"Due to material that had been published in the public eye, they had to bar my attendance and presence," he alleged. "They were unclear about what legal reason there was but that was the reason they gave to my wife Laura (Gallacher) and I."

According to BBC News, he added, "My entire life has been consumed by these allegations. I have devoted myself to these matters."

The charges relate to six female complainants and alleged incidents between 1999 and 2009.

Brand was taken through the separate allegations. He denied raping a woman in a Bournemouth hotel room in 1999, and denied grabbing a woman's breasts before dragging her into a toilet and orally raping her in a London bar in 2004.

The Get Him to the Greek star also insisted he didn't intend for a non-consensual sexual encounter when he allegedly tried to drag an MTV employee into a toilet at work in 2001. He also denied raping a woman at his Hampstead home in 2009 following a prior consensual sexual encounter.

The trial continues.