Russell Brand, 51, was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. He was cleared of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. The judge told Brand he would receive a 'significant' prison sentence; he was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on Monday. The industry response was swift. Pan Macmillan confirmed it is withdrawing Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions (2017) and Mentors: How to Help and Be Helped (2019), stating it recognises 'the courage it took for those who came forward.' It held no existing stock — the books had not been reprinted due to lack of demand. Hodder & Stoughton pulled My Booky Wook, the 2007 Christmas number-one memoir. HarperCollins appears to have quietly removed its two Brand titles — the sequel Booky Wook 2: This Time It's Personal and others — without public statement. Waterstones confirmed it has removed all title listings from its website, with a handful of remaining in-shop copies to be returned to publishers. The financial picture is complicated. Brand signed a £575,000 contract with Pan Macmillan in 2021 for two self-help books, through his company Pablo Diablo's Legitimate Business Firm Ltd. Neither book was delivered. Pan Macmillan terminated the agreement after sexual assault allegations emerged in 2023 and sued him for £220,000 in 2025. Brand had already received £75,000 for the first book and £142,000 for the second at signing; a ghostwriter was paid just £3,000 for a partial draft written without Brand's input. The case was settled earlier this year for an undisclosed sum. One of Brand's own books was turned against him at trial. While giving evidence, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC confronted him with passages from My Booky Wook in which he wrote about his sexual appetite and attitudes toward women — including a line about not stopping until he got his 'birthright orgasm.' Prosecutors described Brand as 'ruthless' and 'a sexual predator' who treated women as a 'disposable commodity.' The Metropolitan Police said he remains under investigation over two further rape allegations. The one title still on sale is How to Become a Christian in Seven Days, published in May by Tucker Carlson Books — an imprint set up by the former Fox News host with US publisher Skyhorse. Canongate's The Pied Piper of Hamelin (2014), illustrated by Chris Riddell, and Penguin Random House's Revolution (2014) were already out of print before the verdict. Brand's literary agency, Tavistock Wood, owned by Curtis Brown, dropped him as a client in 2023.
