Russell Brand has admitted that he slept with a 16-year-old when he was 30 and said he now considers the encounter to have been “exploitative”.
The 50-year-old, who has been battling multiple allegations of rape and sexual assault in British courts since 2023, spoke about the encounter on “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Wednesday.
“The plain fact is that in Europe and in the UK, where I’m from, the age of consent is 16. And I slept with a 16-year-old when I was 30,” he said.
“But at 30, I was a completely different person. I was a much younger, immature 30-year-old.”
The “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” actor admitted there was a power imbalance involved.
“In fact, I think having consensual sex with different people when there is a strong power differential is exploitative when you’re a famous man with the ability to attract women like I had at the time,” he said.
“I think this is exploitative. I recognize that my sexual behavior in the past has been selfish and that I have had little or no consideration for how it affects other people.”
The comments came as the “Get Him to the Greece” star continues to deny a series of accusations that first surfaced in 2023.
Four women have accused Brando of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse over incidents that allegedly occurred between 1999 and 2005.
Later, further allegations surfaced from an actress who claimed to have been assaulted on the set of “Arthur.”
The brand has consistently denied all allegations.
At the time, he said in a social media response that he “absolutely refutes” the claims and maintained that their past relationship was consensual.
In May 2025, Brando pleaded not guilty to charges including rape, indecent assault, and sexual assault.
Months later, he was indicted on additional charges of both rape and sexual assault, and again pleaded not guilty in February.
Brand was originally scheduled to stand trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court on June 16, but that date was postponed last month to October 12.
Brando said at the time: “These allegations relate to a time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was always in the newspapers, when I was appearing in movies.”
“And as I’ve written extensively in my book, I was very, very promiscuous. Now, during that promiscuous period, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual.
“I was always transparent about it back then, very little transparent, and I’m just as transparent now.”
Brando rose to fame as a comedian in the late 2000s before briefly launching a career in Hollywood before gaining attention for his high-profile relationship with singer Katy Perry from 2009 to 2011.
These days, his new book, How to Become a Christian in 7 Days, is scheduled to be released next month, and he has built a large following as an online commentator.
He has been married to Laura Gallacher since 2017, and the couple has three children.
