Russell Brand joked about consent while appearing at a Trump-aligned event just weeks before receiving a 10-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault.
The disgraced comedian was invited to speak at the Make America Healthy Again summit, an organisation closely associated with US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Brand was warmly received by the hosts and used his appearance to attack vaccine mandates, junk food and pharmaceutical companies.
Before the discussion began, television presenter and physician Dr Oz said: ‘Russell Brand was backstage hugging the secretary of agriculture. But here he is.’
Brand then walked onstage and joked: ‘She initiated that contact, I should make clear, doctor,’ drawing laughter from the audience.
Brand is understood to have become a close ally of RFK Jr, who attended the September summit with Vice President JD Vance.
The 51-year-old was photographed alongside senior members of the US administration, including Mr Vance, RFK Jr and Donald Trump Jr, before being sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison for rape and sexual assault.
Brand’s pending rape charges did not appear to affect his welcome at the MAHA summit, where he spoke about vaccines, junk food and other health issues
Brand joked onstage: ‘She initiated that contact, I should make clear, doctor,’ prompting laughter from the audience
After relocating to the United States, Brand was reportedly building a new life, embracing Christianity and moving within Mr Trump’s circle of wealthy and high-profile associates.
He lived with his family in a £1.9 million bungalow at Santa Rosa Beach in Florida.
The former actor and comedian was also presented with a ‘Global Defender of Freedom’ award at a black-tie gala held in the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago after attending Mr Trump’s inauguration.
Following his conviction last week on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, Brand was taken to HMP Wandsworth and placed in the Care and Separation Unit.
He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court yesterday afternoon to 10 years and six months. He is expected to serve two-thirds of the term, amounting to seven years.
During the night, a woman shouted ‘rot in hell’ at a prison van believed to be carrying Brand as it arrived at the Category B prison.
Video showed the vehicle entering the grounds of the south-west London jail as onlookers called on Brand to ‘bang on the window’.
As the white van neared the prison entrance, a woman yelled: ‘Justice for women!’
Russell Brand is pictured with Donald Trump Jr in Florida
Russell Brand, left, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, during a surprise visit to Discovery Place, a long-term recovery centre in Burns, Tennessee, in May 2024
The prison’s large gate appeared to close slowly as an officer began opening the rear doors of the vehicle
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A woman shouted ‘justice for women!’ as the white van approached the prison, later adding: ‘rot in hell!’
An image of a van believed to be carrying Brand appeared to show a crucifix hanging from what looked like rosary beads
She later repeated: ‘Rot in hell!’
The prison gate could be seen closing gradually as an officer started to open the back doors of the van.
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that investigations remain under way into two rape allegations involving Brand. Its chief, Sir Mark Rowley, said he would not be surprised if ‘many more’ alleged victims came forward.
A crucifix and a suit jacket were visible through the window of the vehicle believed to have carried Brand, which photographers followed along Battle Bridge Lane.
One photograph appeared to show the crucifix hanging from what seemed to be a set of rosary beads.
Police stationed outside the court began leaving shortly after the van departed, while court staff started dismantling the barricades outside the building.
Brand was reportedly ‘petrified’ after arriving at the prison. The 51-year-old had appeared visibly shaken as the possibility of imprisonment approached during his trial, telling viewers he was scared in an episode of his Sunday Service programme with his wife, Laura Gallacher.
In the recording made on October 11, the day before jury selection, Ms Gallacher read him a message from a supporter who said God would be with him in prison and that he would ‘get through it’. She left the court in tears yesterday.
Brand with his wife, Laura Gallacher, and her father, Bernard Gallacher, outside court on Monday
Supporters of British actor and comedian Russell Brand hold a banner outside Southwark Crown Court as he awaited sentencing
Brand, who said he entered court wearing the ‘full armour of God’, tapped her on the shoulder and said: ‘I don’t like things where it’s like you might have to go to prison.’
She responded: ‘Yeah, I know, but that is just the nature of what a trial is.’
Months earlier, Piers Morgan had asked Brand whether he had considered the ‘reality’ that he could be sent to prison. Brand replied: ‘I will be with God wherever I am.’
Brand was convicted of raping a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a stand-up performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009.
He was also convicted of groping an MTV worker at a party in a Soho bar in 2004, but was acquitted of orally raping her in a toilet afterwards.
Jurors found Brand guilty of sexually assaulting a Capital Radio worker after meeting her in a corridor in 2005, and of sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker during a forced massage in 2009.
He was acquitted of raping a woman he met at a cabaret show held on the fringes of the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth. He was also found not guilty of attempting to drag an MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001.
