The conviction came after a three-week-long trial at Southwark Crown Court.
These legal proceedings followed historic allegations of sexual misconduct made known more than three years ago via a collaborative inquiry by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches. The Metropolitan Police subsequently launched an investigation, which led to Brand being charged in 2025.
As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement. This pattern of behavior, characterized by the deliberate disempowerment of victims, highlights the power imbalance between a high-profile perpetrator and those they target. Legal experts have said that the perpetrator’s fame is not the only key factor; the fundamental issue is safety.
Journalist Alison Mau, a sexual assault survivor and founder of Tika, an online reporting and legal support platform, emphasizes that it is powerful for a survivor to realize they are not the only one. Since Tika launched nationally at the end of September, more than 2,000 New Zealand survivors have registered for support.
“You will be listened to, supported and treated with dignity and respect,” Met Police lead investigator Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said.
Legal tactics and silencing
The case shows the dangers victims face when speaking out. The truth is that women who name predators are increasingly at risk of legal proceedings, a phenomenon sometimes described as “gendered lawfare.” These lawsuits, often called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), are used to create fear, financial pressure, and a culture of self-censorship.
Rather than seeking justice, these tactics aim to turn the process of defending an action into a punishment. Zelda Perkins, a former personal assistant to disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein, was famously bound by an NDA after she tried to expose his predatory behavior. Perkins has warned that SLAPPs, which she calls “the evil cousin of NDAs,” remain a real threat to victims.
Entertainer David Walliams also attempted to secure an injunction to suppress claims of sexual misconduct. While the full story behind such injunctions is often complicated, the financial cost of fighting them is significant. At present, UK-based targets of SLAPPs only receive protection when they report on financial and economic criminality, and even then, such safeguards are restricted.
Victims of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) remain largely unprotected. Parliament has been debating whether to extend protections to everyone speaking out on public interest matters, as stronger anti-SLAPP protections are needed to prevent the law from becoming an instrument of the powerful against those alleging abuse.
Patterns in media reporting
Extensive media coverage of the Brand trial has drawn scrutiny regarding how rape cases involving celebrities are reported. The researcher argued that the celebrity too often becomes the story, rather than the rape or the victim-survivor.
In non-celebrity cases, myths centered on the “monster myth”—the belief that rape is committed by deviant strangers. However, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that a woman is most frequently raped by her own intimate partner.
“in a position of fame, a successful person” Brand told the court during his trial, according to the reporting.
Of the 32 cases studied, 13 involved rape in a family and domestic violence context, yet fewer than 3% of the articles covered them. Because journalists cannot identify a complainant in a trial, they often cannot name the perpetrator in domestic cases, as courts frequently use pseudonyms.
The researcher suggested that reporters could use those names to protect the survivor while still informing the public, though none of the articles in the dataset did so. Several Australian newsrooms have published editorials arguing that suppression orders limit reporting on how criminal courts function.
Support for survivors
She emphasized that no matter how a survivor feels, their reaction is valid. Rape Crisis England and Wales offers resources on its website, including mental and physical methods like anchoring phrases, safety affirmations, and strategic muscle tension to help survivors feel safe in their bodies.
If you have been affected by rape or sexual abuse, you can call Rape Crisis in England and Wales on 0808 802 9999, in Scotland on 0808 801 0302, and in Northern Ireland on 0800 0246 991. Survivors UK offers support for men and boys at 0203 598 3898. You can also find a local Rape Crisis Centre on their website to self-refer for longer-term support.