British comic Russell Model to look in London court docket at this time on rape fees

British actor and comic Russell Model is because of seem in a London court docket on Friday after being charged final month with rape and a number of counts of intercourse assault in instances regarding 4 separate girls greater than twenty years in the past.

Model, who was as soon as certainly one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and is the previous husband of US pop singer Katy Perry, has all the time denied having non-consensual intercourse since allegations about him had been first aired two years in the past.

The 49-year-old comic was charged by London police on April 4 with rape, oral rape, indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault involving the 4 girls between 1999 and 2005.

After the fees, Model mentioned that in his youthful days earlier than he was married with kids, he had been a idiot and a intercourse addict, however “what I by no means was, was a rapist”.

“I’ve by no means engaged in non-consensual exercise,” he mentioned in a video assertion. “I am now going to have the chance to defend these fees in court docket and I am extremely grateful for that.”

Within the 2000s, Model was an everyday on British screens, identified for his flamboyant fashion and look. He labored for the BBC and starred in quite a few movies, together with “Get Him to the Greek” earlier than marrying Perry in 2010. They divorced 14 months later.

By the early 2020s, he had light from mainstream tradition, showing totally on his web channel the place he airs his views on US politics and free speech.

In September 2023, The Sunday Occasions newspaper and Channel 4 TV’s documentary present “Dispatches” reported allegations of intercourse offences in opposition to him and London police opened an investigation some weeks later.

Model, who mentioned final yr he had change into a Christian, rejected these allegations.

“These allegations pertain to the time once I was working within the mainstream, once I was within the newspapers on a regular basis, once I was within the motion pictures. And as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I used to be very, very promiscuous,” he mentioned.