UK comedian Russell Brand in London court for rape trial start

Jury selection took place on Monday for the ⁠trial of British actor ⁠and comedian Russell Brand over alleged ⁠historical crimes including rape and other sexual offences.

Brand, 51, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and former husband of US singer Katy Perry, faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and ‌one count of indecent assault relating to six women from 1999 to 2009.

Brand has denied all the accusations.

He arrived at London’s Southwark Crown Court wearing sunglasses and accompanied by his wife. During the hearing he sat in the dock, mostly staring straight ahead or with his eyes closed.

“We are about to start ⁠the trial of one Mr Russell Brand,” the judge Joel Bennathan told potential jurors. “Many ‌of you will have heard of him.”

The judge excluded those who said they had watched a documentary aired about three years ago or ‌had read a long newspaper article from the same time in which ⁠allegations of sexual misconduct ⁠were made against Brand.

“Those are allegations he firmly denies,” the judge said.

He later told those who ‌had been initially selected: “The defendant is clearly someone very well known. You absolutely must not carry out any research ‌at all ‌about this defendant Russell Brand.”

The trial is expected to last about six weeks, ‌Bennathan said, with the jurors formally sworn in on Tuesday while prosecutors will open their ⁠case later in the week.

The comedian, known for his flamboyant style and appearance, was ⁠a regular on British television screens in the 2000s and also worked as a radio presenter for the BBC.

He went on to star in ‌a number of films ‌including Get Him to the Greek in 2010, the same year he married Perry.

They divorced in 2012 after 14 months of marriage.

More recently Brand has largely appeared on online programmes, with content often focused on US politics, religion and free speech.