Thames Valley Police have confirmed that Russell Brand was ordered to leave his then-girlfriend Jemima Goldsmith's house in 2014 after reports of an assault. The confirmation comes hours after Brand was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison for rape and sexual assault.
Police confirm 2014 incident
Officers were contacted by Goldsmith on July 25 2014, but no arrests were made following the incident at her Oxfordshire home. Brand was asked to leave the address "as per the victim's wishes", according to a police statement.
The confirmation follows a statement posted by Goldsmith on X on Monday, in which she revealed she had personal experience of Brand's "violence, coercive control and abuse". She wrote: "I had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident."
Goldsmith speaks out after sentencing
Goldsmith, who reportedly dated Brand for a year in 2014, said she was "in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand's trial" and said she assisted the journalists who exposed him. In her post, made hours after Brand was jailed for raping one of his fans and sexually assaulting three TV and radio workers, she said she was "glad and relieved" that Brand had "finally faced justice".
She wrote: "I am and have always been strongly and unequivocally on the side of all of Brand's victims. I am in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand's trial, told their stories, testified and ensured justice was done."
Goldsmith explains decision not to press charges
Goldsmith said she chose not to press charges or go public because she was worried about the impact of press attention on her children. She added: "I have neither seen nor spoken to Brand since that period in 2014. Whilst my pain in relation to this, pales in comparison to what the women have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life which has had a lasting impact."
She also said she assisted journalists Ros Urwin, Louisa Compton and Dorothy Byrne over several years, and undertook to testify in court to Brand's abusiveness if the newspaper that published the victims' accounts were ever sued. Brand was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court.
