This is the moment Russell Brand delivered his defence statement to police while in custody, claiming that women accusing him of rape and sexual assault had “reimagined” previous consensual encounters.

CCTV footage released by the Metropolitan Police shows Brand in custody in 2023, wearing a black jumper featuring a white star.

The footage follows a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, in which five women accused Brand of rape, sexual assault, coercive behaviour and emotional abuse.

With his hair tied back, Brand appears sombre as he reads from a piece of paper, setting out his defence to police.

Although he said he did not recognise the names of those making allegations against him, Brand claimed it was “entirely possible” that he had encountered them and that they had “engaged in consensual sexual activity or physical contact”.

He went on to suggest that the women had subsequently “reimagined” those encounters, maintaining that any sexual activity had been consensual.

Brand denied ever engaging in non-consensual sexual activity and said he had repeatedly spoken out about his previous “promiscuous life”.

In his police statement, he said: “On the 16th of September, 2023, the defamatory and fictitious documentary was broadcast in conjunction with the publication of two national newspapers containing false anonymised allegations, which led to unprecedented media reporting.

“Subsequently, both the media and the police publicly invited additional allegations to be made, which as resulted in further encounters being invented or reimagined. At present, I do not recall the names of complainants or meeting them.

“However, it's entirely possible that I may have encountered them and that we may have engaged in consensual sexual activity or physical contact that's been since reimagined.”

During the police interview, Brand also referred to his history of kissing members of the public at press events.

He said he had “shared kisses with hundreds of members of the public during press events and photos of many such kisses in front of people, in front of hundreds of people were available online.”

He added that, whenever he was in public, he was conscious that his actions could be captured on camera, either through photographs or video footage.

In separate footage, Brand appears to be holding what looks like a Bible.

The comedian publicly embraced Christianity and was baptised in the River Thames in 2024.