Daniel Kreps
Contact Daniel Kreps on X Contact Daniel Kreps by Email View all posts by Daniel Kreps April 23, 2026
Russell Brand leaves Southwark Crown Court in south London on Feb. 24, 2026 AFP via Getty Images Russell Brand admitted that he had “consensual sex” with a 16-year-old girl when he was 30 in a new interview ahead of the comedian’s sexual assault trial.
Speaking to the Megyn Kelly Show, the actor addressed the allegation that he “was taking advantage of 16-year-olds,” as the host put it. “I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30. When I was 30, I was a very different person. I was a lot younger, and I was an immature 30-year-old,” Brand said, adding that the age of consent in the U.K. is 16.
“Consensual sex with a lot of people, when there is a strong power differential, as there is when you are a famous man who has the ability to attract women that I had at that time, I think involves exploitation. I think it is exploitative,” he continued. “I recognize that my sexual conduct in the past was selfish and I did not apply enough consideration, barely any I suppose, really, to how that sex was affecting other people.”
Due to the U.K.’s “contempt of court” laws, Brand did not elaborate on the allegations tied to the specific charges against him — including two counts of both rape and sexual assault, as well as one count of indecent exposure — but did reiterate that he has “had consensual sex with lots and lots of women,” and that his celebrity standing afforded him “endless consent.”
