Russell Brand Called a Ruthless Sexual Predator as Rape Trial Opens in London

Russell Brand's rape and sexual assault trial is under way at Southwark Crown Court in London, where a prosecutor told jurors the comedian used women as a means to an end during a decade of alleged attacks. Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. The charges involve six women who do not know each other, and the alleged offences date from 1999 to 2009.

The prosecution case

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones opened the case on Wednesday. She told jurors the alleged attacks happened in a hotel room, in workplaces, in a toilet cubicle in a bar and at Brand's home. Brand could be funny and charming when he wanted something, she said, but he was demanding and entitled, and treated his own desires as the only thing that mattered. "He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipulative," she said, and the prosecution's word for him was sexual predator.

The earliest allegation dates to the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999, where Brand, then a rising stand-up comic working the conference fringe, is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room. A second woman says that two years later he tried to drag her into a men's toilet at the office building where she worked. A third says he attacked her in the toilet of a London bar in 2004 and brushed aside her pleas for him to stop.

The first accuser speaks to police

On Thursday, jurors were played a recorded police interview with the woman who alleges the 1999 rape. She told officers she had blamed herself for years and felt at the time that such things were treated as the woman's fault. She said she decided to contact police after watching the 2023 television documentary that aired allegations against Brand, because it showed her how manipulative he could be. Judge Joel Bennathan told jurors that all six complainants in the case came forward after that documentary. He added that the women who appeared in the programme itself are not complainants here, their allegations have not been tested in court, and the defence may argue the programme led women to reinterpret encounters that were consensual.

Brand's response

Brand arrived at court on Wednesday holding hands with his wife, Laura Gallacher. He told reporters outside that he felt blessed, and that he was concerned but hopeful the process would lead to good outcomes for everyone involved. He remains on bail and has denied wrongdoing since the allegations first became public. His lawyers are expected to argue that the encounters were consensual and that the case rests on old memories reshaped by publicity.

From fame to the dock

Brand built his name as a stand-up and as a presenter on MTV, Channel 4 and BBC radio, then crossed into Hollywood with films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. He was briefly married to the singer Katy Perry. In recent years, living in Florida, he has built a large online following, with millions of subscribers on YouTube, X and Instagram, posting about wellness, politics and his Christian faith. The September 2023 investigation by Channel 4's Dispatches programme and The Sunday Times ended his mainstream media career and set this prosecution in motion. The trial is expected to last around six weeks.