A television worker who alleges Russell Brand raped her has rejected suggestions she was a “giddy schoolgirl” during their encounter at a central London bar. The woman, who worked for MTV, claims Brand groped her breasts within seconds of meeting her at the Nordic Bar in Soho in 2004, before allegedly dragging her to a toilet and forcing her into a sex act.
Brand denies rape and sexual assault, asserting the encounter was consensual but has since been “re-imagined”. He faces seven charges: three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault.
Court Testimony and Cross-Examination
Under cross-examination at Southwark Crown Court, the woman told the court she was not “charmed” by Brand and denied being particularly “excited” to meet him. She stated: “I’d worked with numerous famous people, I wasn’t starstruck.”
When Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC, suggested she had been excited when told Brand – who was “becoming a superstar” – was coming to the bar, she replied: “No, I wasn’t extremely excited, I wasn’t a giddy schoolgirl. It wasn’t like I was waiting for him to get there and I was excited by the prospect.” She insisted she “was not charmed in the slightest” by the TV presenter, adding: “I’d met this person for less than a minute when they sexually assaulted me.”
Alleged Assault Details
The woman described Brand having a weird grin “like a clown” as he grabbed her breasts during the party. She claims he then dragged her by the arm to a toilet, jumped on a closed toilet lid, and forced her to perform oral sex.
During cross-examination, Mr Winter told the woman: “It would have been perfectly easy for you to struggle, any number of people would have come to your rescue.” The woman replied: “I don’t agree.” She added: “I said he dragged me in there. I wouldn’t use the word ‘led’ because I was dragged in there, it was against my will. I think that when somebody is towering over you, grabbing your arm really hard, is dragging you, within seconds you’re locked in a room with them. It’s hard when someone’s gripping you and you’re small, it’s hard to get away from that person. I did say: ‘Get off from me’ and I didn’t want to do anything.”
Mr Winter suggested the woman could have “slapped him in the face” for groping her, to which she replied: “I was completely in shock, that someone I had been speaking to for 30 seconds would do that.” The barrister told the court Brand denies grabbing the woman’s breasts in the bar area at all.
Police Interview and Trial Status
Earlier, the woman’s recorded interview with police was played to jurors, in which she accused Brand of saying “don’t be a spoilsport” as he was raping her. She said she “froze” and closed her eyes, waiting for it to finish, and observed to police about Brand’s manhood: “He wasn’t very well endowed, that’s my memory of that. He was average, average size.”
The trial continues.
