Russell Brand trial: Woman says he pulled her closer and mentioned sexual assault after asking her to pose for nude photos.
Russell Brand's criminal trial entered its second day in London, with the first complainant describing a sexual assault at a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999. Brand arrived at Southwark Crown Court in London on Thursday wearing a grey suit, white shirt, and a black-and-white polka-dot tie, with his hair tied back […]
The second day of Russell Brand's criminal trial is underway in London, with the first complainant describing an incident of sexual assault at a Labor party conference in Bournemouth in 1999.
Brand appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday wearing a gray suit, white shirt and black and white polka dot tie, with his hair tied back. His wife, Laura Gallacher, who has been by his side for the first two days of the trial, was not present. RELATED STORIES Netflix VP Doug Belgrade Drops Amid Layoffs 'Hatchet' Movie: Netflix and Derek Cianfrance to Adapt Gary Paulsen's Survival Book (Exclusive)
According to Sky News, the jury of eight men and four women was shown a video of the police interview of the first complainant. She claims Brand raped her in her hotel room at a Labor conference in 1999. "I'm sorry… he basically raped me – I know it happened." Popular in Variety
The woman said the 2023 Channel 4 documentary Dispatches, in which the allegations against Brand were first revealed, prompted her to go to the police. Sky News reported at the start of the trial on Thursday that judge Mr Justice Benneton told the jury that the documentary's claims had "never been tested in any court of law", but that it was relevant to the case because it had prompted many alleged victims to come forward. He said the defense may suggest the documentary caused the complainants to "twist" their memory of events, saying he thought the document was "one-sided and dramatic" so it would not be shown to the jury.
In the video of the police interview, the woman said she met Brand at a cabaret he was performing at a Labor conference. Brand first "rescued Leman" and thought he was gay, saying, "It didn't feel right for him to try that on me." He suggested that they return to his hotel room to continue the conversation. Once there, he said, he went to the toilet and found Brand half-naked and "like an ostrich" roaming around the room "nightly". He claimed he forced her to take pictures of him - at which point he was "scared" - and then pushed her onto the bed and stripped her of her clothes. She said she tried to push him, but he was "really heavy." The woman said, then "it went out of her head ... but I know I said no."
"I was scared. I remember thinking 'what have I got myself into' - and then he raped me," the woman claimed in tears, according to Sky News.
Afterward, she claimed that the brand acted as if nothing was wrong and gave her her email address. She said she was ashamed to tell anyone about the rape until she told a friend in 2023. It was her friend who first reported the incident before the alleged victim herself went to the police.
On Wednesday, the prosecution presented its opening statement, alleging that Brand was "cruel and calculated" and "sexually promiscuous." The actor and comedian has been charged with three counts of sexual assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of statutory rape related to incidents involving six women from 1999 to 2009. He has declared himself innocent and denied all the charges against him.
Prosecutor Ray Carmi Jones outlined six allegations against Brand in her opening statement. The first woman claimed that Brand assaulted her in her hotel room at the Labor Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999. The second alleged incident involved a woman who worked at MTV in 2001, where he claimed Brand grabbed her and tried to drag her into the toilet. A third woman claims Brand groped her breasts at a party in Soho in 2004 and then raped her in the toilet. A fourth claim occurred on Capital Radio in 2004/2005, where Brand allegedly pushed a woman against a wall and "aggressively" kissed her while "grabbing her body, breasts, sides and buttocks." A fifth woman claims that Brand raped her in 2009 after they had satisfactory vaginal sex. The sixth claim comes from a woman who claims Brand asked her for a massage while on a business trip in 2009.
The prosecution claimed that several of the allegations received similar responses when Brand was questioned about them by police. He stated that he had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity and that there were no reports, Stuckermy-Jones said, that were invented or reimagined after a defamatory documentary and subsequent press report.
In 2023, Brand was the subject of a joint investigation by The Sunday Times of London and the Channel 4 documentary Dispatches, which published allegations of sexual assault, rape and emotional abuse against him. The brand strongly denied the allegations. The Metropolitan Police then launched an investigation into him and the Crown Prosecution Service formally laid charges against him in April and December last year.
The brand trial period is expected to last six weeks.