India, June 1 -- British actor-comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court on Friday to charges of rape and sexual assault relating to four women more than two decades ago. The 49-year-old, once among the most high-profile broadcasters in the UK and former husband of American singer Katy Perry, has been charged with two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault against four women between 1999 and 2005. The trial is set to begin in June, 2026. He did not speak to reporters as he arrived at court (see left) clutching a copy of the The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers. Russell is accused of raping a woman at a hotel room in Bournemouth when she was at a 1999 Labour Party conference, where he was performing. A second woman said that he grabbed her forearm and attempted to drag her into a men's toilet at a TV station in London in 2001. The third accuser was a television employee who met Brand at a birthday party in a bar in 2004, where he allegedly grabbed her breasts before pulling her into a toilet and forcing her to perform oral sex. The fourth met him while he was working on a reality TV program between 2004 and 2005. She said he grabbed her by the face with both hands, pushed her against a wall, and kissed her before groping her breasts and buttocks. Russell was known for risque stand-up routines and battles with drugs and alcohol. He dropped out of mainstream media in recent years and built an online following with videos on wellness, conspiracy theories, and religion. htc...