A woman who alleges that she was raped by Russell Brand when she was 16 has waived her right to anonymity and is campaigning for a staggered age of consent in an interview with the Sunday Times.
Mia Latter was one of six women who made allegations against Brand in 2023 as part of a Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches investigation. She was known under the pseudonym ‘Alice’. Brand denied the allegations at the time.
None of the women in the 2023 media investigation were complainants in Brand’s recent criminal trial.
Reacting to the proposal, Cabinet Office Minister Louise Haigh said it would be a “massive step” to change the age of consent law, but that it “deserves proper consideration and scrutiny”.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, she added that it was “disgusting” that a culture existed in the 2000s that “normalised and celebrated” celebrities having relationships with teenagers.
On Monday the entertainer was sentenced to 10 and a half years 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.
The Sunday Times reported that Latter had initially described the allegation about Brand to them as a sexual assault and that is how they reported it in their 2023 investigation.
Latter, 37, “now calls this allegation rape”, the paper said.
Latter said she was 16 when she met Brand, who was 30 at the time, when she was on her way home from a shopping trip. She said Brand was working at MTV.
She told the paper: “I think people were so struck by my story because of the age difference and the clear imbalance [in power].”
She said Brand told her to keep their relationship secret from her school friends and claimed that he referred to her as “the child” in front of his entourage.
It was towards the end of their relationship that Latter was allegedly orally raped by Brand, according to the Sunday Times.
Latter said that she was now campaigning for the introduction of a “staggered” age of consent that would prohibit relationships between 16- and 17-year-olds and adults.
“I don’t want to criminalise teenagers having sex with each other,” she 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.”
She also told the paper that she would not continue with the criminal process so she could focus on her campaign.
In her interview with the Sunday Times she said that the CPS decided not to include her as part of Brand’s criminal trial but the police wanted her to be part of a “subsequent trial”.
A Met 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.
“This investigation remains ongoing. We understand the delay has been distressing for this victim-survivor. However, our focus has been on putting forward the best possible evidence.”
A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said it would “continue to work closely with investigators to provide advice and make sure cases progress as quickly as possible”.
