Russell Brand was convicted on Thursday of one rape and three sexual assaults, and the verdict lands as new Harry Potter books 2027 stay in the conversation for a very different reason. On Monday, he is due to learn a "significant" jail sentence, while Pan Macmillan has already moved to stop publishing his books.
Woman E and the jury
The case turned on allegations from women who said Brand abused them between 2004 and 2009. Woman E said the encounter began consensually before turning into an anal rape that left her with psychological and physical injuries, and the jury accepted her version of events with support from multiple witnesses.
Two acquittals, one verdict
Two more rape charges and one attempted indecent assault ended in acquittal even as the jury returned guilty verdicts on one rape and three sexual assaults. That split matters because it leaves the public record with both conviction and clearance in the same case, a reminder that juries can reject some allegations while accepting others on the same evidence set.
Pan Macmillan and Ian Winter KC
Pan Macmillan announced on Thursday that it would stop publishing Brand's books after the verdict. Brand's barrister, Ian Winter KC, referred himself to the Bar Standards Board after an exchange with a reporter outside court. The broader backdrop is plain enough: nearly 10 years after the #MeToo movement, entertainment companies are still being forced to respond after the fact rather than ahead of it.
Two further rape complaints are being examined by police, so the legal and commercial fallout is not finished. The next concrete change comes on Monday, when the court is due to set punishment after a conviction that has already cut through Brand's public standing and his publishing deal.
