Russell Brand says he was ‘promiscuous’ but denies forcing himself onto women

Russell Brand says he was ‘promiscuous’ but denies forcing himself onto women The TV host and actor admitted he engaged in ‘friendly, consensual and warm’ interactions with fans - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Russell Brand admitted to police about his “very promiscuous” lifestyle of kissing fans and sleeping with countless women but denied forcing himself on people, a court heard. Brand, now 51, was quizzed by police four times between November 2023 and July 2025, and each time insisted he has “never engaged in any non-consensual sexual activity”. The former comedian, who is now on trial for raping and sexually assaulting a series of women, told detectives that sexual misconduct allegations first made in 2023 following an investigation by The Times, Sunday Times, and Channel 4 are “false”. In his statements to police, he detailed kissing hundreds of fans while out in public, having sex in toilets, and abruptly ending sexual encounters with women once they had finished. “I led a very promiscuous life in the past, which I have spent years openly denouncing,” he said. “On 16 September 2023, a defamatory and fictitious documentary was broadcast in conjunction with the publication of two national newspapers containing false anonymised allegations which led to unprecedented media reporting. “Subsequently, both the media and the police publicly invited additional allegations to be made, which resulted in further encounters being invented or reimagined.” In a police interview in December 2023, Brand said he did not recall the women who had come forward to accuse him, but he said: “It is entirely possible that I may have encountered them and that we may have engaged in consensual sexual activity or physical contact that has since been reimagined.” He continued that he engaged in “friendly, consensual and warm” interactions with fans when there was “often physical contact”. “At live shows, press events, junkets, and book signings I did my best to be accessible, non discriminatory and loving. “I spent a lot of time at these events. “I have shared kisses with hundreds of members of the public during press events and photos of many such kisses, in front of hundreds of people, are available online. “Everything I did in public once I was famous could be photographed or recorded and end up in the tabloids – I was aware of this. “I routinely made provocative jokes or comments both with members of the public and during live performances and broadcasts. “I did on occasion find reasons for leaving, or for asking partners in casual sexual encounters to leave, shortly after the experience had concluded. “I had sexual encounters in countless locations and scenarios often with people I had just met. “The way of life that I have described, the magnitude of the promiscuity, deceptively rendered in recent media attacks, accompanied by advertisements for complainants, have caused consensual encounters to be unfavourably reframed decades later.” Addressing one allegation, that he had sexually assaulted and raped an MTV worker during a party at a Soho bar, Brand said it is “likely” he was at the event. But he added: “At no point would I have touched (her) breasts unless it was consensual. “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. “As I stated at the outset, I have never engaged in any non-consensual sexual activity.” Brand denies all the charges he faces. He is accused of three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault, and on Tuesday an allegation of indecent assault was changed to a charge of attempted indecent assault. The trial has heard from six women who say they were the victims of sexual misconduct from Brand between 1999 and 2009. Prior to his rise to fame, Brand is accused of raping a woman he met at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999. She says he stripped off his clothes, “pranced” around her hotel room, and then pinned her to the bed and raped her. An MTV worker says Brand tried to drag her into a toilet at work when he was one of the channel’s star presenters, but she said she managed to wrench herself away. Brand is accused of groping another MTV worker’s breasts in a Soho bar, then forcing the woman into oral sex after dragging her to a toilet. He is accused of kissing and groping a radio worker in 2005 in front of members of his entourage, and sexually assaulting a Channel 4 staffer in 2009 by thrusting his head into her lap when she had been forced to give him a massage. Brand is accused of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009 after meeting her at one of his Hammersmith Apollo stand-up performances. Brand has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his barrister Ian Winter KC has told the court the former TV personality denies any non-consensual sex and argues some of the encounters with the women have been “reimagined” since he was first accused of sexual misconduct in 2023. The trial continues.