British police on Friday charged Russell Brand with rape and sexual assault following an 18-month investigation sparked when four women alleged they had been assaulted by the controversial comedian.

London’s Metropolitan Police force said Brand, 50, faces one count of rape, one of indecent assault, one of oral rape and two of sexual assault.

Brand denied engaging in “non-consensual” sexual activity.

The alleged offenses involve four women and took place between 1999 and 2005 — one in the English seaside town of Bournemouth and the other three in the Westminster area of central London.

Brand, who was once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and is the former husband of U.S. pop singer Katy Perry, denied the allegations when they first emerged in 2023 and said he had never had non-consensual sex.

After the charges, Brand said on X that while he had been a fool when he was younger, “what I never was was a rapist. I have never engaged in non-consensual activity”. He started his message by describing the law being used as “a kind of weapon”.

Police said Brand, who lives in Oxfordshire, southern England, was charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual assault.

Brand is due to appear in a London court for a first hearing on May 2, police said.

In the 2000s, he was a regular on British screens, known for his flamboyant style and appearance. He worked for the BBC and starred in a number of films including “Get Him to the Greek” before marrying Perry in 2010. They divorced 14 months later.

By the early 2020s he had faded from mainstream culture, appearing primarily on his internet channel where he airs his views on U.S. politics and free speech.

In September 2023, he returned to the headlines when the Sunday Times newspaper and Channel 4 TV’s documentary show “Dispatches” reported the rape allegations.

They said four women had accused Brand of sexual assaults, including a rape, between 2006 and 2013. London’s Met police opened a sex crimes investigation some weeks later.

Brand said then he “absolutely refuted” the allegations.

“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous,” he said.

Police said the investigation remains open and urged anyone with relevant information to contact the force.

Known for his unbridled and risqué standup routines, Brand hosted shows on radio and television, wrote memoirs charting his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in several Hollywood movies and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.

In recent years, Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media but has built up a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories. He recently said he had moved to the United States.