Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges as he appeared in court in London.

The British comedian and actor, from Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.

The charges relate to alleged incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.

The 49-year-old, who has been living in the US, was flanked by two officers as he pleaded not guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court today.

Brand stood completely still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.

The comedian, who has consistently denied having non-consensual sex since allegations were first aired two years ago, is due to stand trial in June 2026.

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He previously told his 11.2 million followers on X that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.

The allegations were first made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.

As Friday’s hearing finished, Brand replaced his sunglasses before exiting the dock and calmly walking past reporters.

A former employee of Sean “Diddy” Combs broke down in tears as she described being sexually assaulted by the hip-hop star on several occasions – telling the court the alleged abuse was “the most traumatising, worst thing that’s ever happened to me”.

Three weeks into the trial, Mia* is the second alleged victim to testify against Combs, following his former partner Cassie’s evidence alleging years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

While Cassie waived her right to anonymity, Mia did not want to be identified and is appearing in court in Manhattan, New York, under a pseudonym.

She started by telling the court about witnessing Combs, 55, being violent towards Cassie, before moving on to talk about her own experiences.

Diddy trial day twelve – as it happened

Mia told the court she once woke to find Combs on top of her and that he forced her to have sex against her will. Another time, he forced her to perform oral sex, she alleged.

He also once threw a bucket of ice on her head and slammed her arm into a door on another occasion, she said.

The court heard Mia had never told anyone about the alleged sexual assaults by Combs until she spoke to government investigators for this case.

“I was going to die with this,” she said, becoming tearful on the stand. “I didn’t want anyone to know ever.”

Telling the court she could not say “no” to her former boss, she said: “I knew his power. And his control. I didn’t want to lose everything that I worked so hard for.”

She also said she feared being attacked and was “always” worried about being physically hurt by Combs. “I didn’t want to die or get hurt.”

Mia said she felt “desperate”, “terrified and trapped” and described the alleged sexual assaults as “the most shameful thing of my life”, and “the most traumatising, worst thing that’s ever happened to me”.

Asked why she is speaking out now, she told the court: “Because I have to tell the truth.”

‘Chaotic and toxic’

Mia, faltering at times, said working for Combs came with extreme highs and lows.

Sometimes he would offer advice and act like her “protector”, she said. Other times, he would “humiliate” her and berate her for small mistakes, and work her so hard she had little sleep, she said.

“It was chaotic. It was toxic,” she told the court.

Combs’s employees were always on edge because his mood could “change in a split second”, causing everything to go from “happy to chaotic”, she said.

Mia told how she was barely at home once she started working for Combs. Like other employees, she often slept at his properties in LA, Miami and New York.

She told the court she was not allowed to leave without his permission and was not allowed lock her door, even though it seemed as if other members of the predominantly male security staff were able to do so.

“This is my house. No one locks the doors,” Combs allegedly said to her.

On one occasion, Mia said she worked without sleeping for five days, with prescription drugs getting her through it. It was only when she had a physical breakdown that Combs allowed her to sleep, jurors were told.

Mia’s testimony echoed that of prior prosecution witnesses, including several of Combs’s other former employees, as well as Cassie.

Cassie, an R’n’B singer and model whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, spoke for four days during the first week of the trial.

She told jurors her ex-partner subjected her to hundreds of “freak offs” – drug-fuelled marathons in which she said she engaged in sex acts with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them.

Heavily pregnant at the time, it was confirmed in court yesterday that she gave birth to her third child earlier this week.

Mia is the second of three women testifying about alleged sexual abuse by Combs. The third woman, using the pseudonym “Jane”, is also expected to testify about participating in freak offs.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.

During their opening statement, his lawyers conceded he could be violent at times, but said that did not make him a sex trafficker or racketeering leader. Combs denies using threats or his music industry clout to commit or cover up abuse.

What did Mia say about Cassie?

In the first part of her testimony, Mia told the court she saw Combs beating Cassie on several occasions and that she sustained injuries, including black eyes, other bruises, and fat lips.

The two became friends, she said, and are still friends today.

Mia described a party at Prince’s house that she and Cassie “snuck out” to, saying Prince’s security had to intervene when Combs turned up and started to attack her.

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She also described a trip to a private island in Turks and Caicos, in the Caribbean, saying she remembers Cassie being “terrified” as Combs banged on her door “screaming”.

On another occasion during that trip, they used paddle boards to go out to sea to get away from him, she said – but the weather changed and the sky turned dark.

“I was trying to weigh if it was scarier to face Mother Nature or go back to Puff,” Mia said, using the name she knew him by. “We eventually went back to Puff.”

Combs was also abusive to Cassie at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, the court was told. Mia alleged she saw him digging his nails into her as they watched a film.

Mia’s testimony will continue when the trial resumes on Friday.

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate will return to the UK to defend themselves against charges of rape and other offences, a lawyer representing the siblings has said.

Andrew Ford, of Holborn Adams representing Andrew and Tristan Tate, has confirmed in a statement by firm Holborn Adams that once proceedings for separate charges the brothers are facing in Romania are concluded, “The Tates will return to face UK allegations”.

Andrew Tate, 38, faces 10 charges, including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain, relating to three women.

His brother Tristan Tate, 36, faces 11 charges relating to one woman – including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.

The charges were authorised in January 2024, but full details have only been released now.

Bedfordshire Police issued an international arrest warrant for the brothers over allegations, which they “unequivocally deny”, said to have occurred between 2012 and 2015.

Andrew and Tristian Tate’s legal team alleges that there is “a vast amount of misinformation” about the allegations faced by their clients, which they say could impact their clients’ right to a fair trial.

The lawyers have also accused the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police of refusing to “engage with us in any meaningful way”.

“UK prosecutors refuse to give even the most basic information to allow our clients to understand the allegations which they face,” Holborn Adams said in a statement.

“These are historic allegations, and our clients are not even being told who the supposed victims are, this is not a typical approach and demonstrates a different approach on the basis of the profile of our clients.”

They added: “As and when the time presents itself, we will rigorously defend our clients.”

The Tate brothers are facing separate allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering in Romania.

They are also accused of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women in a different case, which has been sent back to prosecutors.

Prosecutors in the UK have submitted a request to authorities in Romania for the brothers to be extradited following the conclusion of proceedings in Romania.

However, the CPS has said that the “domestic criminal matters in Romania must be settled first”.

They have denied all the allegations in Romania.

High Court case

Lawyer Matt Jury, of McCue Jury & Partners, representing several alleged British victims of Andrew Tate, said: “We welcome the clarity from the Crown Prosecution Service that our authorities are working to ensure the Tates face justice here in the UK – they cannot be allowed to escape extradition.

“At the same time, we ask once more that CPS admit its mistake in failing to prosecute Tate when he lived in the UK and finally charge him for the rape and assault of the other three women, our clients, who originally filed criminal complaints against him as long ago as 2014 but were failed by the system.

“They deserve justice, too.”

Those allegations were subject to a police investigation, which was closed in 2019. The women are now bringing a civil case against Andrew Tate.

Addressing those allegations, Tate’s lawyers said that the proceedings were not criminal and had been brought for compensation.

The lawyers said the High Court case was “set down for trial in 2027” and that Andrew Tate would “rigorously defend himself with our full support”.