Comedian Russell Brand admitted to podcast host Megyn Kelly on Wednesday that he had sex with a 16-year-old when he was 30, calling it “exploitative” but saying that it was not illegal.
Brand faces allegations of raping or sexually assaulting multiple women in an upcoming trial — charges he denies. A 2023 UK TV documentary included a report that he had preyed on a teenager who was in school at the time. The teen, who is now an adult, alleges Brand sexually assaulted her and referred to her as “the child.”
Kelly said the report made her angry, but that she was open-minded to the possibility that Brand was being “railroaded.” “I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30,” said the comedian, who’s now 50. “When I was 30, I was a very different person. I was a lot younger, and I was an immature 30-year-old.”
“Consensual sex, actually, with a variety of people, when there is a strong power differential, as there is when you are a famous man that has the ability to attract women that I had at that time, I think involves exploitation,” he continued. “I think it is exploitative.”
“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.”
The general age of consent in the U.K. is 16, with exceptions, as is the case in some U.S. states.
The “Arthur” and “Get Me To The Greek” star got baptized in 2024 after the allegations emerged, and has taken a right-wing political turn. He recently spoke at a Turning Point USA event in December.
Brand’s divorce from pop star Katy Perry was finalized in 2012, and he has been married to Laura Gallacher since 2017.
