-LONDON, UK - MAY 2, 2025: British comedian and actor Russell Brand appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Friday, May 2 to face charges of rape, and other sexual offenses. The charges come following an investigation initiated by the Metropolitan Police in September 2023, after a series of allegations against Brand. The women involved in the case are said to have received support from specially trained officers throughout the investigation. The alleged offences include the rape of a woman in 1999 in the Bournemouth area, an indecent assault on a woman in 2001 in Westminster, oral rape and sexual assault of a woman in 2004 in Westminster, and a sexual assault on another woman in Westminster between 2004 and 2005. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorized the charges after reviewing the evidence collected during the police investigation. Russell Brand, who is believed to have relocated to the US, has claimed that he is being "attacked" and "shut down" by British authorities. The decision to charge Brand follows the CPS’s confirmation in November 2024 that detectives had submitted an evidence file regarding the sexual offence allegations. The allegations surfaced following the broadcast of a Channel 4 Dispatches program, in which four women accused Brand of sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013. At that time, Brand was working for the BBC and Channel 4, and also starring in Hollywood films.