Russell Brand, the 51-year-old former comedian, has testified at Southwark crown court that he was wrong to have leveraged his fame and professional success to facilitate sexual activity with women. Appearing in the witness box for four hours on Wednesday, Brand admitted that he had misused his position “very selfishly” and spent a significant portion of his life dedicated to “reckless philandering and idiocy.”
Despite these admissions, Brand maintained his innocence regarding the seven offences he faces, including rape and sexual assault, involving six women between 1999 and 2009. He denied the allegations in a booming voice, providing terse “no” responses when questioned about specific incidents in a hotel room, his home, and a bar toilet, as well as alleged assaults against radio and television workers. He asserted that “consent is fundamental, essential, necessary and indeed in many ways more important than sex itself,” adding that consent is an ongoing process that can be withdrawn at any time.
Brand, who wore a dark suit, white shirt, and tie, reflected on his past, noting that he achieved “staggering fame” following his 2010 marriage to US pop star Katy Perry. He claimed that he is now a social pariah, suggesting that nobody would “touch him with a bargepole.” He attributed his current circumstances to “devastating” media reports from 2023, which he claimed led to his exclusion from visiting his baby son during the child's open-heart surgery at Great Ormond Street hospital. When asked by his barrister, Ian Winter KC, if anyone with relevant information would testify on his behalf, Brand replied that they would not.
During cross-examination, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC challenged Brand on inconsistencies in his accounts and his behavior toward women. Brand acknowledged that his recollection of events had changed over time, describing the criminal case as a “deeply traumatic episode” of his life. He admitted to saving the telephone number of a woman who accuses him of anal rape in 2009 with the letter “T” next to her name, meaning “tart,” which he explained was what he used to denote “casual hook-ups.” The woman alleges Brand raped her at his north London townhouse, a few days after she had willingly engaged in a threesome with the star backstage at the Hammersmith Apollo venue in London. He also admitted to placing two asterisks next to her name, which he told the jury meant: “Never, ever forget this individual, this is a memorable encounter.”
Brand used descriptive language for other accusers, referring to one woman who alleges he raped her at the Labour party conference in 1999 as “vivacious and loquacious” and an MTV worker who accuses him of oral rape in 2004 as having “prominent eyes,” describing her as “lithe, elfin, pixieish, energetic.” When questioned about his pursuit of sexual partners, he acknowledged that he had been a “very determined and focused man” and did not dispute the suggestion that he had acted recklessly. When asked if a young fan was “just another sexual conquest” in his attempt to sleep with 5,000 women, Brand told the court: “I really don’t know the number, but it’s difficult to dispute that’s how I conducted myself in the pursuit of willing sexual partners.”
Prosecutor Karmy-Jones continued to press him on his use of power, to which Brand replied: “As I became more successful and famous I was very comfortable allowing that to facilitate sexual access, which I agree with you was wrong.” Regarding the start of his trial, Mr Justice Bennathan instructed the jury to find Brand not guilty of one charge of indecent assault due to insufficient evidence, though the remaining six charges of rape and sexual assault proceed.
Brand is accused of seven offences, including rape and sexual assault, against six women in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999. He denies all the charges.
Karmy-Jones also confronted him with extracts from his 2007 book, My Booky Wook, in which Brand said he “would never have relented until I received my birthright orgasm”. Responding to one of the passages, Brand said: “I do recognise I have been a very determined and focused man.
