Shocking testimony about the alleged conduct of Russell Brand has been heard at Southwark Crown Court in London, where the 51-year-old British comedian and actor is standing trial over allegations of rape and sexual assault involving six women.
One of the complainants described being allegedly raped at Brand’s UK home in 2009, claiming that he continued the assault despite her repeated pleas for him to stop. When it was over, she said, she expected him to apologise. Instead, he allegedly told her: “Clear up the mess you’ve made.”
According to the Guardian, Brand faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault relating to alleged incidents between 1999 and 2009. He denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
The woman’s video-recorded police interview was played to the court on Tuesday, 20 October. She said she had been a huge fan of Brand and was particularly excited when she met him after one of his performances at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009.
According to her account, the comedian singled her out from the crowd, pointing at her and saying “you”, before inviting her, a friend and another young woman for drinks.
One of Brand’s security guards later escorted the women backstage. There, she said, she performed oral sex on Brand but refused to have penetrative sex with him. Her friend had already left, while Brand subsequently had sex with the third woman, who was 19, on a sofa.
The complainant said she felt uncomfortable when she emerged from the dressing room. Brand asked why she did not want to have sex with him, and she explained that she had a boyfriend. “We don’t belong to anyone, we’re all free. The idea that people are someone’s property is something we’ve been taught to believe,” he allegedly replied.
Brand asked for her telephone number and began texting and calling her. The woman described him as extremely “persuasive” in his efforts to convince her to visit his three-storey home in Hampstead, north-west London.
A few days later, a driver working for the comedian collected her and took her to the property. She acknowledged that she had gone there knowing they would have sex, something she said caused her to question herself for years after the alleged rape.
‘I was begging him to stop, but he wouldn’t’
According to her testimony, when she arrived at the house, Brand told her she had made the best decision of her life.
However, once they entered the bedroom, he allegedly told her to take a shower because her hair smelled strange and instructed her to brush her teeth. “He made me feel really dirty,” the woman said, explaining that her initial excitement about visiting the home of a famous man she admired had disappeared.
The complainant described the bedroom in detail, including its enormous bed and the black toilet paper in the bathroom. Jurors were shown photographs featuring, among other things, a cross above the bed and black furniture.
She said they initially had consensual vaginal intercourse, although she did not enjoy it. “I felt really uncomfortable. It was as though it didn’t matter who I was. I just wanted it to be over,” she said.
The woman alleged that Brand then penetrated her anally without her consent. “He didn’t warn me, he didn’t ask me. I don’t know how long it was before I asked him to stop. It can’t have been very long. I felt like I couldn’t speak or breathe because of the pain,” she recalled.
She said she initially asked him quietly to stop before beginning to beg more loudly, but he did not respond.
When the alleged assault ended, Brand appeared horrified, she told the court, leading her to believe he was about to apologise. “However, what he actually said to me was: ‘Clear up the mess you’ve made.’”
Shortly afterwards, a member of Brand’s staff allegedly asked her to leave because the comedian had a performance scheduled.
‘I tortured myself for years’
The woman described the serious psychological impact the alleged incident had on her life.
After visiting Brand’s home, she attended a sexual health clinic because she feared she might have contracted HIV. In the period that followed, she experienced severe anxiety and health problems. “When I spoke to other people about what had happened, there was always this thought that I shouldn’t have gone there,” she said.
She explained that she struggled to come to terms with what she alleges happened because she had willingly visited the comedian’s home. “I think I tortured myself because it was one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever been through in my life,” she told the court.
She stressed that, when recounting the incident to people close to her, she had explained that Brand had hurt her and had not stopped when she asked him to.
Two other women describe alleged sexual assaults at work
Earlier on Tuesday, two other women who have accused Brand of sexual assault gave evidence from behind a protective screen.
The first alleged that the comedian assaulted her while she was working at a radio station in either 2004 or 2005.
According to her testimony, Brand grabbed her breast and kissed her against her will, using considerable physical force. She described the alleged assault as violent and frenzied, claiming that the comedian laughed afterwards.
She explained that she did not report the incident at the time because, in her view, a culture of fear prevailed in the media industry and Brand was already extremely famous. “I had buried it,” she said.
The second woman, who worked for British broadcaster Channel 4, described an incident during filming in 2009.
She alleged that she was asked to massage Brand and that he placed his head in her lap, leaving her feeling deeply repulsed.
According to her evidence, two men, Jack Bayles and Gareth Roy, were present with the actor. Both were named during the court proceedings.
The woman said she had reported the incident to her manager.
Brand sat upright in the dock as the video-recorded testimony of the woman accusing him of rape at his home was played to the court.
The trial involves six women and seven charges relating to alleged sexual offences spanning a decade.
The 51-year-old comedian and actor categorically denies committing the offences and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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