AceShowbiz - Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to two new charges of rape and sexual assault. The actor and comedian entered the plea at Southwark Crown Court in London on Tuesday.

The new allegations relate to two separate women in London in 2009. This brings the total number of women who have made criminal allegations of sex crimes against Brand to six.

Last year, Brand pleaded not guilty to five other charges. Those alleged crimes include a 1999 rape in Bournemouth, a 2001 indecent assault in Westminster, a 2004 oral rape and sexual assault in Westminster, and a sexual assault of another woman in Westminster between 2004 and 2005. A trial for those charges is set to begin on June 3.

A hearing will be held to determine if the two new allegations should be joined to the existing case, with a management hearing scheduled for March.

Brand has vehemently denied all claims against him. In a video shared on his social media last year, he stated, "I've never engaged in nonconsensual activity." Since the allegations became public, he has turned to Christianity and been baptized.

Detectives began investigating in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations. This followed reporting by Channel 4's Dispatches and The Sunday Times. One woman told Dispatches that Brand entered a relationship with her when she was 16 and he was 31, describing him as "emotionally abusive and controlling." Another woman alleged to The Sunday Times that he raped her in 2012 in his Los Angeles home.

The claims against Brand date between 2006 and 2013, a period when he was at the height of his fame working on shows like Big Brother's Big Mouth and Kings of Comedy.