RFK Jr.'s MAHA Allies Stand by Russell Brand as He Faces Rape and Sexual Assault Trial Involving Six Women

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the movement he leads have had more than a year to distance themselves from Russell Brand. They have chosen the opposite.

As the comedian went on trial this week over accusations from six women, the network around the US Health Secretary did not go quiet. One of its most senior figures, Tony Lyons, who runs the super PAC behind the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, travelled to London and sat in the courtroom to support him, according to Politico.

Days later, Brand was back on the movement's activist phone line as if nothing had changed.

Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault. The charges involve six women and relate to alleged incidents between 1999 and 2009. A jury was sworn in on 13 October at Southwark Crown Court, and the trial is expected to last several weeks.

What the Prosecution Alleges

Opening the case, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told jurors that Brand had behaved as a 'ruthless' sexual predator as his fame grew, treating women as a means to an end. The alleged offences took place in hotel rooms, workplaces, a bar toilet, and at Brand's home.

Brand rejects all of it. Arriving at court, he said he felt 'concerned but hopeful' that the process would lead to good outcomes for everyone involved. He has said any sexual contact he had was consensual.

Why the Movement Will Not Let Go

The loyalty is political, and it is rooted in a shared origin story. Like Kennedy, Brand built his second act on opposition to mandatory Covid-19 vaccination and lockdowns, the grievances that bind much of the MAHA base.

He rebuilt a mass audience on YouTube and Rumble with videos attacking vaccines, globalism, and mainstream media, which made him one of the movement's most recognisable celebrity voices.

His access runs all the way up. At the second MAHA Summit on 29 September, held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, Brand moderated a panel with Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

There, Brand credited Oz with connecting him to a surgeon who operated on his infant son's heart when the boy was 12 weeks old. Brand has said the child was born with DiGeorge syndrome, a genetic condition, and Tetralogy of Fallot, a serious heart defect. A personal debt of that weight is not easily walked back.

A Joke That Drew Condemnation

The same summit showed how comfortable the movement's leaders are around him. Introducing Brand, Oz noted the comedian had been backstage hugging Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Brand replied that Rollins had initiated the contact. Oz threw his head back and slapped his thighs, laughing.

Coming days before a rape trial, the exchange was widely condemned as a flippant joke about consent, and it deepened unease, even among some conservatives, about the company the administration keeps. Brand's standing there is not marginal. He endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 election and has become a fixture on the American right.

The Book, the Call, and the Silence

Support has continued through the trial itself. On Wednesday, the third day of proceedings, Brand joined Lyons' regular conference call for MAHA activists, the livestreamed sessions that rally the grassroots. On that call, Lyons promoted Brand's new book, How to Become a Christian in 7 Days, released this year by Skyhorse Publishing, the house Lyons runs and the same one that publishes Kennedy's books.

Brand has leaned hard into that religious reinvention since the allegations surfaced. In an April interview with Megyn Kelly, he acknowledged having had what he called exploitative consensual sex with a 16-year-old when he was 30.

None of this is new to his allies. London's Metropolitan Police opened their investigation in September 2023, after a joint inquiry by The Sunday Times and the Channel 4 programme Dispatches aired detailed accounts from several women. Brand was charged in April 2025 over four complainants, with two further charges added over two more women in December 2025.

Spokespeople for Oz, Kennedy, and Trump did not respond to requests for comment, according to Politico, and neither did Lyons. The silence is its own answer. With their most scrutinised celebrity ally now in the dock, the leaders of MAHA have offered no comment on the trial itself.