British actor and comedian Russell Brand was a ruthless sexual predator who sexually abused six women despite their protestations, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Brand (51), once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and former husband of US singer Katy Perry, faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault relating to six women from 1999 to 2009. He denies all the accusations.
“Today I feel blessed,” he said as he arrived at London’s Southwark Crown Court. “I feel of course concerned but hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved.”
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Opening the case against him, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones said that regardless of who the women were or what they said or did, he was not deterred in targeting them.
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“Some of the women involved protested and said no, others had no opportunity to react to his advances but it mattered not to the defendant,” she said.
“His desire, his strong desire, for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious,” she said.
“He could be nice when he wanted to be, funny – undoubtedly – charming, likeable even – when he wanted something in return.
“But then demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite, child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met.
“He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipulative and, the prosecution say, he was a sexual predator.”
A woman who says she was raped by Brand claims the comedian apologised for treating her “like an animal”, the court heard.
Brand (51) allegedly had sex with the woman without consent after meeting her when she was in the audience at a Hammersmith Apollo show in 2009.
Southwark Crown Court heard she had a threesome with Brand backstage, then had consensual sex with the star at his home in Hampstead, north London.
But she said Brand then raped her at his home, looked “horrified” afterwards, and then allegedly forced her to “clean up the mess”.
Karmy-Jones said Brand texted the woman the following year after seeing each other in a chance encounter in Scotland.
She said she messaged Brand: “Why are you even messaging me?”, and he replied: “Because you’re dirty, and I wanna push you further.”
The court heard she says she replied: “I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal”, and she says Brand replied: “I’m sorry.”
The court heard Brand had concluded his 2009 show at the Hammersmith Apollo by telling the audience: “If you see me out in the foyer and you think ‘I really fancy him and would like to have sex with him, but I can’t because it is Russell Brand …’ you probably can have sex with me.
“My age range is from 16 to death.”
In the bar afterwards, the woman said she bumped into Brand and kissed him, despite having a boyfriend at the time.
It is said a member of Brand’s security pointed at the woman and invited her for drinks backstage, and the “star struck” woman then agreed to a threesome with him and another woman.
She refused to have full sex with Brand on that occasion, and Karmy-Jones said Brand asked for her phone number and later invited her to his home.
She claims Brand forced her to shower while he watched, and alleges she was raped after they had consensual sex.
The court heard she later struggled with an alcohol addiction, and “spent months and years blaming herself for what had happened”.
The final alleged victim, a Channel 4 worker, accuses Brand of sexual assault as he was filming for a project in 2009.
Karmy-Jones said while he was filming, he was “friendly and nice” with children who were present, but became “angry, fed up, and petulant” when they left.
She said the woman was informed Brand was “unhappy” and the situation would not improve unless she gave him a massage.
The prosecutor said: “She thought they must be joking but then realised they meant it.
“She said no, and they said she had to.”
It is said Brand walked up to a chair the woman was sitting on and placed his head directly into her groin area.
“He was kneeling at the side of her with his forehead on her right thigh and his shoulders pressed against her left thigh”, said Ms Karmy-Jones.
The alleged victim says she “froze”, as Brand “pressed his face into her groin area”.
“When he spoke she could feel his breath”, she added.
When questioned by police, Brand provided a prepared statement saying he had “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity, and any accounts had been reinvented or imagined after a defamatory documentary and subsequent press reporting.”
Brand has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault.
His trial is expected to last about six weeks.
The comedian, known for his flamboyant style and appearance, was a regular on British television screens in the 2000s and also worked as a radio presenter for the BBC.
He went on to star in a number of films including “Get Him to the Greek” in 2010, the same year he married Perry. They divorced in 2012 after 14 months of marriage.
More recently Brand has mainly appeared in online broadcasts, with content often focused on US politics, religion and free speech. - Reuters
