Russell Brand denies 7 sex-offense charges in London testimony
What's new: Brand told jurors he used fame to pursue sex but insisted all encounters were consensual.
Russell Brand took the witness stand at Southwark Crown Court in London and denied three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault tied to six women. The allegations span 1999 to 2009. Brand, 51, told jurors he had lived with “reckless philandering and idiocy” and used his fame to gain sexual access, but said consent was “fundamental” and that he never forced anyone to do anything against their will. Prosecutors allege he raped a woman after a Labour Party conference event in Bournemouth in 1999, forced oral sex in a London bar in 2004, and committed other assaults including at MTV Europe and a radio station.