Russell Brand has been handed down a 10-year sentence following his conviction on rape and sexual assault charges.
Going into sentencing on Monday (Nov. 9), the general consensus was that Brand, 51, would likely be facing a significant amount of time behind bars. As highlighted in The Guardian’s in-court reporting, his legal team had posited that he deserved a lighter sentence, arguing that he “went too far” but without “planning” or “premeditation.”
Prosecutors read victim impact statements in court on Monday before the sentence was announced. One woman appeared in person, saying in her remarks to the judge that Brand caused her to think “I was damaged goods.” A judge, meanwhile, described Brand as “a sexual predator” while recounting his rise to fame, as pointed out by the Associated Press.
The comedian and actor, whose mainstream breakthrough in the U.S. came with his appearance as Aldous Snow in the 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, was found guilty on a single count of rape and three counts of sexual assault by a London jury earlier this month.
When initially charged in April of last year, Brand conceded in a video shared to Instagram that he had been “a fool” earlier in his life, but denied the claims against him.
“I was a fool, man,” Brand said at the time. “I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile. But what I never was was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in nonconsensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes.”
On Monday, Brand was given a sentence totaling 10 years and six months. He will not be eligible for possible parole until he has served two-thirds of his sentence.
