The Russell Brand age of consent campaign gained a public face this weekend, after Mia Latter waived her right to anonymity and said she was raped by the entertainer when she was 16.
Latter, 37, spoke to the Sunday Times about a relationship she said began in 2006, when she was 16 and Brand was 30. She met him in Leicester Square in London while she was on her way home from a shopping trip.
Brand, 51, was sentenced on Monday to 10 and a half years in prison for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two counts of rape and one allegation of attempted indecent assault. Latter was not a complainant in that trial. The Russell Brand age of consent campaign followed that sentencing, when Latter decided to speak under her own name.
Russell Brand age of consent campaign
Latter was one of six women who made allegations against Brand in 2023 as part of an investigation by the Times, the Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches. She was known under the pseudonym “Alice” in that reporting. Brand denied the allegations at the time.
She told the Sunday Times that she first described what happened as a sexual assault, and that is how the 2023 investigation reported it. She now calls the allegation rape. She said Brand told her to keep their relationship secret from her school friends and referred to her as “the child” in front of his entourage.
Latter said the alleged oral rape took place towards the end of a three-month relationship. She said she is now campaigning for a staggered age of consent that would make relationships between 16- and 17-year-olds and adults illegal. The Russell Brand age of consent campaign is now the focus of her public work, after she decided to step back from the criminal process.
Latter told the Sunday Times: “I think people were so struck by my story because of the age difference and the clear imbalance [in power].” Brand addressed the subject in an interview with podcaster Megyn Kelly earlier this year, in which he said the age of consent in the UK is 16 and that he did sleep with a 16-year-old when he was 30.
What a staggered age of consent would mean
“I don’t want to criminalise teenagers having sex with each other,” Latter told the paper. “If you’re between the ages of 16 and 18, it seems reasonable that you can have relationships with each other, and [teenagers] are always going to. But … if you’re in your thirties, forties and fifties and you’re trying to have a relationship with someone under the age of 18, it [should be] a criminal offence.”
The Russell Brand age of consent proposals draw a line between those two cases: teenagers with each other, and adults with teenagers. Latter said the change would protect teenagers from grooming, and she told the paper that “shame must change sides”.
A staggered age of consent is already law in some US states, including Florida, where the age of consent is 18 but is lowered to 16 if the partner is not older than 23. The Russell Brand age of consent proposals would change a law that has stood since 1885, when the Criminal Law Amendment Act set the age of consent at 16.
The Russell Brand age of consent proposals have drawn a response from the government. Louise Haigh, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told the Sunday Times that changing the age of consent “would be a massive step” but “deserves proper consideration and scrutiny”. She described it as “unthinkable” for a 30-year-old to have sexual relations with someone aged 16.
Russell Brand age of consent case and the police inquiry
Latter told the Sunday Times that the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to include her case in Brand’s criminal trial, although police wanted her to be part of a “subsequent trial”. She said she has decided not to continue with the criminal process so she can focus on her campaign. The Russell Brand age of consent campaign will run alongside that inquiry, which the police say remains open.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers launched an investigation in January 2026 after receiving an allegation of rape. “Detectives sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service to determine how best to proceed, and officers were advised that further information was needed before a charging decision could be made,” the spokesperson said. “This investigation remains ongoing.”
Brand has previously denied all allegations of non-consensual sexual activity. The Russell Brand age of consent proposals now rest with ministers, who have not said whether they will take them forward.