At 30, Russell Brand Admits He Slept With a 16-Year-Old

Russell Brand just put a very uncomfortable piece of his past on the record, and he did it while promoting a book about his new faith. Yes, that combo is exactly as messy as it sounds.

What he said on Megyn Kelly

On The Megyn Kelly Show, in an episode posted Wednesday, April 22, Brand, now 50, said he slept with a 16-year-old when he was 30. He pointed out the legal context upfront: in the U.K., the age of consent was 16 in 2006 and still is. He also tried to frame it as who he was then — calling himself an immature 30-year-old — but he didn’t stop at the legal defense.

Brand said the relationship wasn’t illegal, but it was morally wrong because of the power gap and the fame factor. He described his past sex life as selfish and exploitative, and admitted he didn’t think much — if at all — about how it affected anyone else. He also said that, back then, he was with a wide range of partners: high-profile women, waitresses, strippers, fans — you get the picture.

"What fame gave me and what my addiction fueled was the opportunity for endless consent, which led me to be a hedonist and a fool, and an exploiter of women, and that is wrong."

He pushed back hard on the idea that his past behavior amounts to criminal acts where consent was overridden. His phrasing got... unusual: he said consent in his encounters was "directed" — as in, fame and charisma can point consent in your direction — and then immediately called that wrong, a sin, and a form of selfishness and false idolatry. He closed the moral loop by saying that people aren’t the final arbiters of right and wrong; God is.

The 2006 teen relationship that keeps coming up

A woman who goes by Alice told The Sunday Times in September 2023 that Brand was emotionally and sexually abusive to her in 2006, when she was 16 and he was 30. She says she reported him to his agent, who told her to contact his lawyer. According to Alice, the lawyer denied her allegation and no action was taken.

Where this fits into the bigger legal picture

The Megyn Kelly appearance wasn’t in a vacuum. It’s landing while Brand is under serious legal pressure stemming from multiple allegations that first exploded into public view in 2023. Here’s the quick timeline:

• September 2023: A joint investigation by Channel 4, The Sunday Times, and The Times airs/publishes, detailing accusations from several women spanning 1999 to 2013. Channel 4’s documentary was titled 'Russell Brand: In Plain Sight'.
• April 4, 2025: The U.K. Crown Prosecution Service authorizes the Metropolitan Police to charge Brand with multiple offenses based on allegations from four women between 1999 and 2005. The CPS describes them as non-recent offenses and says it reviewed evidence gathered after the 2023 media investigation.
• Later in 2025: Prosecutors add more counts — two additional rapes, one count of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault.
• Status: Brand has pleaded not guilty. His trial is expected to start in October at Southwark Crown Court in London.

How he’s defending himself — and what else he’s selling

Brand has framed the allegations as part of a coordinated media effort to take him down now that his politics have shifted rightward. In an April 2025 YouTube video, he said he doesn’t mind people talking about his past promiscuity if it was consensual, but he strongly rejects the criminal allegations. He also claimed there are witnesses whose accounts directly contradict what he says mainstream outlets are pushing.

All of this is happening while he’s promoting a new book, 'How to Become a Christian in 7 Days', which chronicles his religious conversion. The contrast between that pitch and the way he talks about 'directed consent' is jarring, and frankly, the language is as revealing as it is strange.

If you have experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 for confidential support.