British comedian and actor Russell Brand was charged with one count each of rape and sexual assault after two new women came forward, police in London said Tuesday.
The Metropolitan Police said in a news release that the charges against Brand, the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” actor, relate to “two further women” and are in addition to charges filed in April.
A representative for Brand, 50, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a video Tuesday on X, Brand said he wanted people “to understand the truth of my situation and scenario.”
“I pray Lord, anyone that I’ve harmed or hurt in my years of mindlessness and sin would be healed, Lord,” he said. “And I pray, Lord, for the absolute truth of who I am to be abundantly revealed.”
Police began investigating Brand in September 2023, after The Sunday Times newspaper and the British broadcaster Channel 4 reported that four women had accused him of assault and rape. The alleged incidents happened from 1999 to 2005, the news release says. He was charged with two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault. He pleaded not guilty in May to all counts.
In a video statement posted April 4 on X, he said he “never engaged in nonconsensual activity.”
Court documents in the first case allege that Brand indecently assaulted a woman in 2001 by “grabbing her arm and dragging her towards a male toilet.” In a separate 2004 incident, he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman by touching her breasts without consent, according to the court documents.
“The women who have made reports, including those connected to the two new charges, continue to receive support from specially trained officers,” Detective Chief Inspector Tariq Farooqi said in a statement.
Police said that with the new charges, a total of six women have come forward with claims against Brand.
Farooqi said the investigation continues.
Brand is scheduled to appear in a Westminster court on Jan. 20.
