Russell Brand he admitted that he once slept with a 16-year-old girl who was 30 years old.
“The plain truth is that in Europe and the United Kingdom, where I’m from, the age of consent is 16. And I slept with a 16-year-old when I was 30,” Brand, 50, said. The Megyn Kelly Show in an episode that aired Wednesday, April 22. “When I was 30, I was a very different person. I was very young, and I was 30 years old.”
As Brand mentioned, the age of consent in the UK was 16 in 2006 and remains so today.
I Rock of Ages the actor promoted his new book How To Become A Christian In 7 Days – about his conversion to religion – during his interview with the host Megyn Kelly while considering a number of allegations of misconduct against him.
A woman referred to only as “Alice” told The Sunday Times in September 2023 that Brand sexually assaulted her in 2006, when she was 16 and 30.
Alice reportedly reported the behavior to Brand’s agent, who advised her to contact the comedian’s attorney. Per Alice, Brand’s lawyer denied it and took no action.
The product is approved for The Megyn Kelly Show that, while his relationship with a 16-year-old in 2006 was illegal under UK law, it had important moral implications.
“There is a big difference in power, as there is when you are a famous man with the ability to attract women, which I did at the time, I think it involves exploitation,” he said. I think it’s exploitation. I realize that my sexual behavior in the past was selfish, and I didn’t use enough consideration—I think really—how that sexuality affected other people.”
Brand disputed the perception of her behavior at the time, saying she saw “strong professional women” and “waitresses and strippers and fans and people.”
“What the glory gave me and what my addiction fueled was the opportunity to admit it forever, which led to me being a cannibal and a fool, and an exploiter of women, and that’s not right. And that’s something that needs to be redeemed and addressed and atoned for,” he said. “What I’m not just asking, but violently or forcefully or asserting, is the idea that this is a criminal case where consent was revoked.”
Russell Brand in February 2026.
Getty Images / Adrian DENNIS / AFPBrand insisted that “consent was implied” in every sexual encounter he had.
“That’s what popularity and presence, if I may say, excuse me, popularity gives you the ability to direct. That doesn’t mean it’s right. It’s not right,” he said. “It’s wrong. It’s a sin, it’s an expression of selfishness and false idolatry.”
The comedian added, “We are not the last word on what is right and wrong, God is the last word.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Brand representatives for comment.
Brand has faced allegations of sexual harassment, rape and emotional abuse from multiple women who say the misconduct occurred between 1999 and 2013. Many of their allegations were first explored in a 2023 Channel 4 documentary. Russell Brand: In Plain Sight.
In April 2025, Brand was charged in the UK with rape, sexual assault and harassment based on the allegations of four different women between 1999 and 2005 and two counts of rape, indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault were not heard. (Brand pleaded not guilty.)
“We have today authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge Russell Brand with a number of sexual offences,” the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on April 4, 2025. “We have carefully reviewed the evidence following a police investigation into the allegations made following the Channel 4 broadcast. Sunday Times again Times investigation in September 2023. We conclude that Russell Brand should be charged with crimes including rape, sexual harassment and sexual harassment.”
Russell Brand is speaking out for the first time after being accused of sexually assaulting multiple women earlier this week. “Hello, you miracle worker,” Brand, 48, said in a Friday, Sept. 22, YouTube video. “Obviously it’s been an unusual and stressful week and I’m very grateful for your support and help […]
The CPS clarified, “This relates to non-recent cases reported between 1999 and 2005, involving four women.”
Brand has previously suggested that he was targeted as part of a media conspiracy due to his shift to right-wing politics.
“I have no problem [the media] I use my books and my stand-up to talk about my loose, conformist behavior in the past. What I seriously dispute are these very serious criminal allegations,” Brand said in a YouTube video in April 2025. “Also, it’s worth mentioning that there are witnesses who have testimony that directly contradicts the narrative these two mainstream media outlets are trying to build, apparently, in what appears to me to be a coordinated attack.”
His trial is expected to begin in October at Southwark Crown Court in London.
If you have been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for confidential support.
