Russell Brand Convicted of Rape, and After 15 Years of Silence Katy Perry Is Reportedly Preparing a Book and Series About Their Marriage

British actor and comedian Russell Brand has been found guilty on four counts - one rape and three sexual assaults - against several women between 2004 and 2009. The verdict was delivered by a jury at Southwark Crown Court in London. Brand was acquitted on three other charges, including two more of rape.

Just a few days later, his ex-wife Katy Perry is at the centre of the story. According to the British tabloid Mail on Sunday, citing sources close to the singer, the 42-year-old Perry has been in "active talks" about a book and a documentary series about what is described as their "dark marriage", and was waiting for the trial to end before signing any deal. "There's a lot about that marriage people don't know," a source from her circle reportedly said. Everything so far comes from anonymous sources, not from the singer herself.

The marriage was short and ended coldly. They met in 2008, on the set of the film Get Him to the Greek, and married on 23 October 2010 at a luxury resort in Rajasthan, India, in a Hindu ceremony. Fourteen months later Brand filed for divorce, and Perry later revealed she learned of the split by text message. The divorce was finalised in July 2012.

Perry is now in a relationship with former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and for fifteen years she said nothing about her marriage to Brand beyond hints. That silence, according to the sources, now has a price - and buyers.

The timing says a lot. While the trial lasted, the story was legal; after the verdict it becomes commercial. The women who testified in court waited almost two decades for their verdict. Will what comes next add anything to the truth about those years - or just become another season on a streaming platform?