Trigger Warning: This article includes discussion of alleged rape and sexual assault, with details.
Following Russell Brand’s conviction for rape and sexual assault, Katherine Ryan has opened up about her reaction. The 43-year-old Canadian star, who was one of the first well-known industry figures to speak out about Brand’s behavior, said she feels a mix of “grief” and “relief.”
Katherine Ryan shares mixed emotions after Russell Brand’s convictions
On November 5, a jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. However, the jury acquitted him of two additional rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. Six women brought allegations against Brand. As previously reported, the allegations concerned incidents spanning 1999 to 2009.
The jury, comprising eight men and four women, found him guilty of grabbing a woman’s breasts at a Soho party in 2004, sexually assaulting another woman at radio station Choice FM in 2004 or 2005, and raping a woman at his Hampstead home in 2009. The jury also found him guilty of sexually assaulting a fourth woman during a Channel 4 production in 2009.
Reacting to the court’s verdict, Ryan addressed the outcome on her podcast, Telling Everybody Everything. She said, “It really made me feel just quite dysregulated again, caught off-guard, emotional, in awe of the survivors who also had nothing to gain.” She further stated that the victims came forward despite Brand’s fame, power, and wealth.
Ryan continued, “I will never be someone who, like, dances on graves. There has been some justice done today. There’s a level of relief, but there’s grief alongside relief. Everything’s nuanced, and it was [proven] in court that a terrible thing happened, and that means that a terrible thing happened.”
Her comments about Brand date back to their time working together on Roast Battle UK. Deadline reported in September 2023 that Ryan had confronted the comedian and called him a “predator” to his face. However, Ryan spoke about it without directly naming Brand or identifying the show they were working on at the time.
Brand is scheduled to be sentenced on November 9.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
