The lead detective in the case against Russell Brand has urged other potential victims of the comedian to come forward after it emerged he is under investigation for two further rape allegations and faces a civil claim in the UK.
Det Supt Andy Furphy, the Metropolitan police’s strategic lead in the investigation, described Brand, ۵۱, as “a predator” whose behaviour escalated as his fame grew.
On Thursday, Brand was found guilty of raping a fan and sexually assaulting three women over five years at the height of his career. He was cleared of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault after a four-week trial at Southwark crown court.
It can now be revealed that Brand is under investigation for two further rape allegations and that the Met has submitted files to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Brand has also been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his mansion in Los Angeles in ۲۰۰۸, in a civil claim filed at the high court in London.
The Met’s investigation into Brand, named Operation Actinolite, involved tracing and speaking to more than ۱۰۰ witnesses, reviewing more than ۱,۴۰۰ documents and taking more than ۳۴۰ statements, including from Brand’s former employers, colleagues and associates.
Speaking after Brand’s conviction, Furphy said the police investigation was continuing and he believed there could be more victims.
“If you get a conviction then it tends to encourage other people to come forward because they see the courage and the bravery and the resilience that these women have had to go through this criminal justice process, and they feel their own strength as a result of that. They want to come forward and have their story told,” he told the Guardian.
“So, yes, there may be more victims of Russell Brand out there, but for now our focus remains on the women that came forward.”
The Met said Brand had been interviewed under caution in connection with two further rape allegations made by two women. “Files have been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to both complainants. Detectives remain in close contact with prosecutors as inquiries continue and further investigative work is carried out,” a spokesperson said.
Pre-trial legal documents suggested there were outstanding charges against Brand in relation to a woman who made allegations about him in a Channel ۴ Dispatches documentary in ۲۰۲۳. She accused Brand of grooming her and sending a BBC car to bring her to him from the gates of her school when she was a ۱۶-year-old pupil.
Furphy refused to comment on any outstanding inquiries but appealed for women to come forward if they had anything to report.
“We have a live investigation. Our work’s not done,” Furphy said. “What I would say, is if you’ve been affected by the case, if Russell Brand has committed a crime against you, rape or serious sexual violence or a sex assault, whatever it might be, and you haven’t spoken to police yet, then come forward. We’ve got specially trained staff, specially trained officers. We’ll support you and listen to you.”
It is understood a couple of other women made allegations against Brand during the Met’s investigation but they did not result in charges.
Furphy said Brand had abused his celebrity status to assault women who then feared they would not be believed.
“Russell Brand is a predator,” Furphy said. “He preys on women and commits serious sexual offences against them. He’s in a position of power, a celebrity, he’s wealthy.
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“If you look at the offending from the first date up until when the final offences were committed, you can see an escalation in his behaviour. The more famous he gets, the more emboldened he gets, less likely to be challenged, less likely to be held accountable. He’s been held accountable now.”
He praised the “really courageous, brave and resilient women” who gave evidence against him while facing the intense scrutiny of Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC. He described the cross-examination as “deeply uncomfortable”.
“Rape and serious sexual offences is a deeply personal thing, people are recounting some of the worst things that have ever happened to them,” he said. “We can perceive that line of questioning may come, but I’ve got to be honest with you, it was deeply uncomfortable at times.”
Brand gave interviews to Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Piers Morgan before the trial and continued podcasting throughout, which the detective said had taken a toll on the women.
“It’d be fair to say that what he did to them has had a very long-lasting effect on them, in the way they trust people … it’s been devastating to many of them,” Furphy said.
“Then a challenging aspect of this [case] was the constant public commentary around it, and some of that was coming from him. And as you can imagine in a case like this, as an investigation team, we’ve got to review everything – DVDs, books, podcasts, stuff that’s appearing online.
“So, for me, he drove right up to the line of what was acceptable in a live criminal trial and stopped just short. But that doesn’t mean we weren’t prepared to take action if it started to cross over that line, and the women who’ve put their trust in us knew that.”
Furphy said the case may be a “watershed moment” in inspiring a wave of other victims of sexual offences to come forward. “I think if you look back to that culture during that period of time, that kind of lad culture, there may be other victims that come forward regarding other people.”
Brand is already facing civil claims in Britain and the US. In court papers seen by the Guardian, a woman who has begun civil proceedings in London has claimed Brand forcibly removed her dress, shoes and underwear, pushed her on to his bed and attempted “to perform oral sex on her against her will”.
She said she eventually managed to break free from his grasp but was left “terrified and shaking violently” as she ran from the house. She said she later suffered from PTSD symptoms. Brand denies her claims, which he described via his lawyers as “fundamentally dishonest”.
The case was lodged last year but was stayed until the proceedings in the criminal case against Brand concluded this week. A claim form filed in February ۲۰۲۵ suggests the woman is seeking damages of up to £۱۰۰,۰۰۰.
The woman said she felt “traumatised by the rage Brand displayed when she refused to submit to him sexually” and feared her safety would be at risk if she pursued a criminal complaint.
However, she decided to report her allegation to the Met in ۲۰۲۵. She said she was “fortified” by other women who had come forward to make allegations against Brand.
The woman’s case was not included in the trial. The Guardian understands this was largely because the offence was alleged to have occurred in the US, meaning the English criminal courts did not have jurisdiction to prosecute.
A separate civil claim was filed in the US in ۲۰۲۳ over allegations Brand sexually assaulted a woman in ۲۰۱۰ while filming the movie Arthur.
None of the victims in the criminal case have submitted compensation claims.
