A woman who alleges she was groomed by Russell Brand when she was 16 and he was 30 has become the first of the former comedian’s accusers to publicly identify herself.
Mia Latter, now 37, was previously known only as “Alice”. She has chosen to reveal her identity in order to speak openly about the alleged abuse she says she experienced as a teenager.
Mia said she was speaking out to support a campaign for a staggered age of consent, which would prohibit relationships between adults and people under 18. The current age of consent in the UK is 16, a threshold introduced in 1885.
Now married with a daughter, Mia alleges that Brand arranged BBC-funded taxis to collect her from school and take her to his flat for sex.
During his trial, Brand’s defence team claimed that women featured in the 2023 Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, “In Plain Sight”, were actresses and questioned whether some of them existed. Mia appeared in the programme as a silhouette and was identified as “Alice”.
Brand denied all the allegations made in the original 2023 investigation. Mia contacted police after the documentary was broadcast, but the Crown Prosecution Service did not include her in the trial. Officers told her they wanted her to give evidence if a second trial took place.
Mia Latter, pictured, is the first of Russell Brand’s accusers to waive her anonymity. She alleges the comedian abused her when he was 30 and she was 16
Mia alleges that Brand orally raped her. She says he sent cars, paid for by the BBC while he hosted a Radio 6 Music programme, to collect her from school and take her to his home
Mia met Brand in 2006, when he was working for MTV and the BBC. He approached her in Leicester Square after she had been shopping at Topshop.
The comedian looked through her shopping bags, selected a dress and told her she would wear it on their first date.
Mia told the Sunday Times: “I thought that the second I said, ‘I’m 16’ he was going to block me.” Instead, she said, Brand asked whether she wanted to have dinner with him the following day.
She recalled that Brand met her outside Belsize Park tube station for their first date. He took her hand, asked her to confirm her age and then said: “I don’t give a f*** how old you are. I just need to know where I stand legally.”
The meeting took place on Easter Sunday, a detail Mia remembers because Brand told her it was “what Jesus would’ve wanted”.
After her distressed parents took away her phone and grounded her, Mia said Brand sent cars to her school to collect her. Some of the vehicles were paid for by the BBC while he presented The Russell Brand Show on Radio 6 Music.
Mia says she is campaigning for a staggered age of consent in the UK, preventing adults from having relationships with 16- and 17-year-olds
Brand is pictured arriving at Southwark Crown Court on October 13
Mia also alleges that Brand called her “the child” in front of his entourage and manager John Noel. She says he told her to conceal the relationship from her classmates and asked her to read Nabokov’s Lolita.
She told the Sunday Times that, near the end of their relationship, Brand forced her against the headboard of his bed and orally raped her.
Mia said she struck him in the stomach to make him stop. According to her account, he replied that he “just wanted to see your mascara run” — a phrase she later discovered he had used in a stand-up routine.
Mia left sixth form after her attendance dropped to 30 per cent. She says she still does not know the results of her AS examinations.
In an interview with conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly earlier this year, Brand said the UK age of consent was 16 and acknowledged that he had slept with a 16-year-old when he was 30.
He described himself as an “immature 30-year-old” and said that consensual sex involving a power imbalance, including one created by fame, “involves exploitation”.
Brand was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for rape and three counts of sexual assault on Monday
Mia told The Times: “He was a very successful man who had a lot of power and sway in the industry. Whereas I was a 16-year-old with no life experience, no sexual experience and no prior relationships. What was my level of maturity meant to be?”
Brand also discussed his comments from the Kelly interview during an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Mia said police told her they wanted her to give evidence at a possible second trial after prosecutors decided not to include her in the first case.
She has since chosen not to continue with the criminal process, saying she wants to concentrate on her campaign to “protect teenagers from being groomed by older men or women”.
Louise Haigh, the de facto deputy prime minister, told The Times that Mia’s “heart-breaking story” showed that a change in the law merited consideration.
She said: “We need to listen to Mia and other victims like her who have been through these experiences, because it’s really important that, as lawmakers, their experience is at the heart of what we consider.
“It clearly would be a massive step to change the age of consent, but it deserves proper consideration and scrutiny. I can absolutely understand why she is calling for it.”
Under UK law, adults of any age can legally have sex with 16- and 17-year-olds, provided no other offence has been committed.
Although Mia has said she does not wish to continue with the criminal process, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed that its investigation into the alleged rape remains ongoing.
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Florida, where Brand lived before entering prison, already sets the age of consent at 18 unless the partner is no older than 23.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “Officers launched an investigation in January 2026 after receiving an allegation of rape.
“Detectives sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service to determine how best to proceed, and officers were advised that further information was needed before a charging decision could be made.
“This investigation remains ongoing. We understand the delay has been distressing for this victim-survivor. However, our focus has been on putting forward the best possible evidence.”
The Crown Prosecution Service said: “The Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work closely with investigators to provide advice and make sure cases progress as quickly as possible.”
Brand was convicted of attacks against four of the six women who gave evidence in court. He is serving a 10-and-a-half-year prison sentence for one count of rape and three sexual assaults.
On Friday night, eight more women came forward with allegations of sexual abuse and predatory behaviour against the 51-year-old.
Brand now faces the possibility of a second trial, with detectives assessing information from more than half a dozen new complainants who contacted police after his conviction earlier this week.
Police are also completing work on evidence files submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service concerning claims from two other women, including an allegation that Brand raped a 16-year-old.
New allegations also featured on Friday in a Netflix documentary, “Russell Brand: Open Secret’”. Former girlfriend Jordan Martin accused Brand of sexually assaulting her and making her brush her teeth until they bled.
The Times also published details from six other women, including allegations that Brand had sex with one woman without her consent and continued having sex with another after she asked him to stop because he was hurting her.
The investigation comes days after Our News Outlet columnist Bryony Gordon described her own encounter with Brand when she was 25.
Gordon said that, while she was vulnerable and struggling with OCD and bulimia, Brand propositioned her and persuaded her to spend the night at his home. She said he made her gargle mouthwash before they kissed.
“I’m not going to go into the details of the rest of my night with Brand. But what I will say is that when I left the next day, any discomfort I had about the encounter I blamed squarely on myself,” she wrote.
“I thought I was the problem, not him — I was a prude, not adventurous or sparkly enough for a man as charismatic and charming as him.”
The latest allegations have prompted comedians and presenters who worked closely with Brand during the 2000s and early 2010s to condemn his crimes and publicly distance themselves from him.
On Friday night, Bake Off presenter Noel Fielding said he was “horrified and deeply disturbed” by his former friend’s rape conviction and had been “completely unaware” of his crimes.
Fielding and Brand were close collaborators and friends during the 2000s and 2010s. They were eventually nicknamed “The Goth Detectives” because of their similar emo style, with Fielding frequently referring to the comedian in interviews.
However, the 53-year-old presenter appeared to distance himself from Brand after growing pressure for him to respond to the conviction.
Fielding said his relationship with Brand, 51, had been “professional rather than personal”. Brand was jailed at Southwark Crown Court on Monday for 10 and a half years after being convicted of one rape and three sexual assaults.
He also apologised for jokes he made alongside Brand, describing them as “horrible and inappropriate” and saying he “very much regretted” them.
He told the Sun: “I was horrified and deeply disturbed to learn of Russell Brand’s crimes, which I was completely unaware of until they became public knowledge. My thoughts are with the women whose courage brought him to justice.
“I appeared on TV, radio and live charity shows with him, and while we played it up for the cameras and in the media, I considered it a professional relationship rather than a personal one.”
He added: “I have had no contact with him for many years.”
Fielding said he had reflected on some of the jokes he made with Brand and was “appalled” by them, adding that he deeply regretted them.
Fielding has never been accused of misconduct, and there is no suggestion that he knew about Brand’s crimes.
Questions have also been raised over whether other comedians knew about Brand’s alleged sexual abuse and predatory behaviour during the 2000s.
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that investigations into two rape allegations against Brand remain ongoing. Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he would not be surprised if “many more” alleged victims came forward.
Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police also announced that a series of “serious” sexual offence allegations against comedian and children’s author David Walliams was being investigated after reports by The Guardian and ITV News.
One woman described an alleged encounter with Walliams when she was 15 as “sexual assault”.
Walliams denies any wrongdoing.
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