Netflix Orders Russell Brand Documentary Days After 10-Year Rape Sentence

Netflix has ordered a documentary on Russell Brand days after a London court sentenced the comedian to 10 years and six months in prison for rape and sexual assault. The streaming platform announced the project on the same week Judge Bennathan delivered the sentence, which blocks Brand's release until he has served at least two thirds of the term — roughly seven years.

The film, titled “Russell Brand: Open Secret,” is directed by Olivia Isaacs and produced by 72 Films, the Fremantle-owned company behind “Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story.” It traces Brand's rapid ascent in comedy, his sharp fall after sexual offense allegations surfaced, and his criminal trial. No premiere date has been announced.

The documentary draws on insiders and archive material to examine Brand's life, and it tracks the investigation carried out by The Times and The Sunday Times, led by chief news correspondent Rosamund Urwin and investigations correspondent Charlotte Wace.

What did the court decide?

A London jury found Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The same jury acquitted him of two other rape charges and one charge of attempted indecent assault.

Judge Bennathan sentenced him on Monday. Under his ruling, Brand cannot be released until he completes two thirds of the 10-and-a-half-year term.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge addressed the defendant directly:

“About 20 years ago, Russell Brand, you were becoming famous. You were clever and, in many people's eyes, funny and charismatic. You had also become a sexual predator.”

After the trial ended, the Metropolitan Police confirmed Brand is under investigation over further rape allegations from two other women.

How did the case come to light?

The allegations first surfaced in 2023 in a docuseries made by The Sunday Times with Channel 4's “Dispatches.” Until then, Brand was known chiefly for his stand-up comedy and for film roles in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek.”

The new documentary reconnects that reporting thread: The Times and The Sunday Times investigation, led by Urwin and Wace, forms a central storyline of the film.

Who is making the film?

Clare Cameron, David Glover and Mark Raphael serve as executive producers on “Open Secret.” Kate Yandle, Laura Spence and Felicity Cross produce.

Glover and Raphael founded 72 Films as an independent outfit focused on high-end documentaries, and the company now sits within the Fremantle group. Its credits include:

• “9/11: One Day in America,” an Emmy winner
• “John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial,” a Critics Choice Award winner
• the award-winning “The Zelensky Story”
• “The Tony Blair Story”

The takeaway in plain words: Netflix has moved fast to pair a major true-crime production team with one of Britain's most consequential sexual offenses cases of the decade — before any premiere date, and while police inquiries into Brand continue.