LONDON — Russell Brand took the stand in a London court on Wednesday, giving evidence for the first time in a trial in which the popular YouTuber faces seven charges, including rape and sexual assault.

Brand’s appearance, at Southwark Crown Court, comes in the third week of a trial in which prosecutors have described the onetime comedian and actor as a “ruthless” sexual predator who either raped or assaulted six women, in episodes that prosecutors say occurred in Britain between 1999 and 2009, when he was 24 to 34 years old.

Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges and on Wednesday told the court that he although he had dedicated much of his life to “beyond reckless philandering,” he had never had nonconsensual sex.

Of his fame, Brand said that he had at times “misused that commodity very, very selfishly.” But he also told the court that “consent is fundamental, essential, necessary,” adding that for him it was “in many ways more important than sex itself.”

For most of the trial’s first two weeks, the jury heard testimony from the six women who say that Brand either assaulted or raped them. The women’s original video interviews with the police were played to the court, and lawyers from both sides questioned the women in the courtroom.

In Britain, anyone who makes sexual assault accusations is granted lifelong anonymity outside the courtroom, and news outlets are not allowed to report information that might identify them.

On Wednesday, Ian Winter, Brand’s lawyer, asked Brand about each accusation.

One woman had told the court that Brand raped her in 1999 after she invited him to her rented accommodations during a British political party conference. The woman said she had initially thought Brand was gay. “I felt sexually safe with him,” she said.

Brand testified that he went to her room when he was 24 and had “hoped and thought there was a reasonable possibility of sex.” They did have sex, Brand said, adding that he would have asked questions throughout such as “Do you like this?”

Throughout the trial, Brand has continued posting videos to his YouTube channel. In one, on Oct. 18, he discussed how his Christian faith was helping him. “I believe in you, God,” Brand said: “I believe in your truth and justice.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Alex Marshall
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