Mia Latter names herself as Russell Brand rape accuser, aged 16 at time
Mia Latter, 37, says Brand raped her when she was a schoolgirl of 16 and he was 30. She is now campaigning for a staggered age of consent law.
Mia Latter waives anonymity over Russell Brand rape allegation
A woman who alleged she was raped by Russell Brand when she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl has waived her lifelong right to anonymity to speak publicly about her experience. Mia Latter, now 37, told the Sunday Times that Brand — then aged 30 and working at MTV — orally raped her towards the end of a three-month relationship that began after he approached her in Leicester Square, central London, while she was on her way home from a shopping trip.
The Independent reports that Ms Latter had previously been referred to under the pseudonym Alice in coverage by the Sunday Times, The Times, and a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary. She chose to identify herself in order to campaign for a change in consent law that she says would protect teenagers from grooming.
How the relationship began
Ms Latter told the Sunday Times that Brand took her number during their first encounter in Leicester Square, later messaged her, and invited her to dinner. She said she told him her age before they met, but he asked her to come anyway. Brand instructed her to keep their relationship secret from her school friends, though his entourage were aware — he reportedly referred to her in front of them as "the child".
She alleged the oral rape occurred near the end of their time together.
Excluded from the Southwark trial
Ms Latter said she contacted police following the Channel 4 documentary, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to include her case in Brand's trial at Southwark Crown Court. She described her reaction to that decision as devastating.
"They wanted me to be part of a subsequent trial, but they said that the decision was made [not to include her in the first trial] after he had done the Megyn Kelly and the Piers Morgan interviews," she told the Sunday Times. "I was told that I wasn't actually going to make it to the October trial because… they didn't want it to become 'the Alice show', which was my pseudonym in the article. I was devastated by it."
Brand, in an earlier interview with conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly, acknowledged he had slept with a 16-year-old when he was 30. He described himself at the time as an "immature 30-year-old" and said consensual sex involving a power imbalance — such as celebrity status — "involves exploitation". He also addressed those comments during an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Ms Latter responded: "He was a very successful man who had a lot of power and sway in the industry. Whereas I was a 16-year-old with no life experience, no sexual experience and no prior relationships. What was my level of maturity meant to be?"
Metropolitan Police investigation continues
Although Ms Latter has decided not to pursue the criminal process herself, the Metropolitan Police confirmed the investigation remains active. A Met spokesperson said officers launched an investigation in January 2026 after receiving the allegation of rape, and that detectives sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service on how to proceed.
"Officers were advised that further information was needed before a charging decision could be made," the spokesperson said. "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."
The CPS has been approached for comment.
Calling for a staggered age of consent
Ms Latter said she withdrew from the criminal process partly to protect her personal life, and to focus her energy on her campaign. She is calling for the introduction of a staggered age of consent that would make sexual relationships between adults and teenagers aged 16 or 17 illegal.
"I just don't know what capacity I have to give years more of my life to this, for my head to be occupied with these awful crimes," she told the Sunday Times. "And it takes a toll on your personal life, on your marriage. I feel as though I haven't been the world's greatest mum at times, because I've been so upset, and I haven't been the greatest daughter [or] sister."
She said she remains grateful for the police work that helped secure convictions for other women in the case, describing it as "a lot of incredible police work". But she said the process itself felt "criminalising".
On her broader campaign, she told the paper: "It's shocking to me time and time again that whenever the news comes up again about him, it's always in the comments about the relationship with a 16-year-old. That's not the most heinous bit. But why is that the thing that everybody collectively gets stuck on? I think we all sort of agree that… adults shouldn't be allowed to have sexual relationships with children, with somebody under the age of 18. That really doesn't seem like a gigantic leap to take."
Brand's conviction and sentence
Brand was convicted of attacks against four of the six women who gave evidence at Southwark Crown Court. He is currently serving a ten-and-a-half-year prison sentence for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. Ms Latter's allegation was not part of that trial.
Source: The Independent