Donald Trump Jr has questioned the prosecution and sentencing of Russell Brand, suggesting the comedian was targeted after embracing Christianity and conservative politics, while challenging what he described as inconsistencies in the British justice system.
Donald Trump Jr has defended Russell Brand following the British comedian’s conviction for rape and three counts of sexual assault, questioning the timing of the prosecution and arguing that Brand may have become a target after his public conversion to Christianity and growing association with conservative politics.
The eldest son of US President Donald Trump made the comments on his Triggered programme on 10 November, one day after Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison at Southwark Crown Court in London.
Trump Jr questioned why allegations against Brand had not resulted in criminal proceedings during the years when he was one of Britain’s most prominent entertainment personalities.
“When he was like married to Katy Perry, he’s one of the most famous actors in the world, no one seemed to have a problem,” Trump Jr said.
He continued by questioning whether Brand’s subsequent religious conversion and political commentary had changed the way he was treated.
“But he finds God, I guess, changes his ways, sees some aspects of conservative life and talks about them,” he said.
Trump Jr also questioned the evidentiary basis of historical sexual offence prosecutions, the absence of contemporary forensic evidence and what he characterised as unequal sentencing outcomes in Britain. He compared Brand’s punishment with sentences imposed in other British sexual abuse cases, including cases involving grooming gangs.
His comments amount to a political defence of Brand and an attack on the fairness of the prosecution. They do not alter the findings reached by the jury following a four-week trial.
Brand, 51, was convicted on 5 November of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. The offences took place between 2004 and 2009, during the period when his television, radio and film career was at its peak.
The jury acquitted him of two further rape charges and one charge of attempted indecent assault.
The sentencing hearing took place before Mr Justice Joel Bennathan, who described Brand as having become a sexual predator as his public profile grew.
The judge said Brand’s celebrity status had protected him until allegations were publicly reported in 2023, when investigations by The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches encouraged women to come forward.
One of the convictions concerned the rape of a 21-year-old woman in 2009. The three sexual assault convictions related to separate incidents involving women in the entertainment and media industries.
The judge imposed nine years for the rape and additional terms of nine months, 18 months and eight months for the sexual assaults. The three assault sentences run concurrently, but consecutively to the rape sentence, producing the overall term of 10 years and six months.
Mr Justice Bennathan also addressed the circumstances in which the women encountered Brand, making clear that their decisions to attend social events, drink alcohol or engage in consensual sexual activity did not diminish his responsibility for offending.
“Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no,” the judge said.
The court took account of Brand’s lack of significant previous convictions, the passage of time since the offences and his subsequent work helping people struggling with addiction. These considerations resulted in a reduction of one year to the rape sentence.
Brand must serve two-thirds of his overall sentence before release on licence and will remain subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements.
Trump Jr’s reference to Brand’s marriage to Katy Perry also requires some historical context. The couple married in 2010, after the offences for which Brand was convicted had taken place. They divorced in 2012.
Brand publicly embraced Christianity in recent years and was baptised in the River Thames in 2024 in a ceremony involving adventurer Bear Grylls. His subsequent association with American conservative figures has brought him into political circles that include supporters of Donald Trump.
There is no finding in the sentencing judgment that Brand’s religious conversion or political views influenced the investigation, prosecution or sentence.
The case has become a point of political debate in the United States, with Trump Jr’s intervention placing Brand’s conviction within a wider argument about political alignment, freedom of expression and the British criminal justice system.
The court’s findings, however, were based on evidence presented to a jury, which returned four guilty verdicts after hearing from the women involved. Brand denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
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