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Russell Brand’s dad ‘hired him prostitutes’ sparking sick obsession
Russell Brand’s past account of his father introducing him to pornography and arranging sex with prostitutes has resurfaced after Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault. The case matters because Brand now faces a substantial prison sentence, while his earlier memoir described experiences he said shaped his attitudes towards sex.
In *My Booky Wook*, Brand wrote that his father hired three prostitutes during a Hong Kong holiday when Brand was 17, and introduced him to porn magazines and explicit films. A jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault after an eight-and-a-half-hour deliberation; he was acquitted of two other rape counts and attempted indecent assault. His father said he was “bemused and shocked” by the convictions.
In short
- Brand was convicted of rape and three sexual assaults.
- His memoir recounts sexual experiences during a holiday aged 17.
- He faces a substantial prison sentence.
Explained simply
Russell Brand is a British comedian and actor who later became a writer and broadcaster. In his memoir, My Booky Wook, he described his father introducing him to pornography and arranging for him to have sex with prostitutes during a holiday in Hong Kong, when Brand was 17.
The account has drawn attention because it offers background to how Brand has spoken about sex and his early life. It is separate from the criminal case, which concerned allegations made by women about incidents in later years.