Russell Brand told Southwark Crown Court it was "devastating" to be accused of rape and said friends and colleagues will not "touch me with a barge pole" as he began giving evidence at his trial on Wednesday morning.
The 51-year-old former comedian started his testimony with a series of denials to allegations of rape and sexual assault. He told jurors he could not persuade any of his friends or former colleagues to give evidence in his defence after being publicly accused of offences against women three years ago.
Effects of the allegations
His barrister, Ian Winter KC, asked Brand to spell out the effects on his friends and colleagues of being accused of rape and sexual misconduct in reporting by the Sunday Times, The Times, and a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary in September 2023.
Brand replied: "It was devastating." Mr Winter asked: "Were you able to persuade a single person with relevant evidence to give to come to give evidence on your behalf?" Brand replied: "I have not." The barrister continued: "Would they touch you with a barge pole?", and Brand replied: "No."
Denials in court
At the outset of his evidence, each of the seven charges was put to Brand by his barrister. With his hands clasped tightly behind his back, he replied "no" each time when asked if he had committed rape and sexual assault.
Brand is accused of being a predator who forced women into sexual acts during his "obsessive" pursuit of sleeping with 5,000 women. Six women have come forward to accuse Brand, in allegations which date from 1999 to 2009, when he was at the height of his fame and starring in Hollywood films.
Hospital ban and court entrance
He was also asked about an incident in the wake of the 2023 reporting when he was blocked from entering Great Ormond Street Hospital to be with his sick baby son. "The reason given by Great Ormond Street Hospital when my son was receiving open heart surgery and subsequent treatment was due to the material published," he said. Brand said he was told "they had to bar my attendance and presence. They were unclear about what particular legal reason there was, but that was the reason they gave to my wife Laura and I."
On his entrance to court on Wednesday morning, Brand told reporters: "I'm very grateful that today is the day for truth and justice." Brand has been accompanied to court on most days of his trial by wife Laura Gallacher, and the couple held hands as they entered the court ahead of his evidence beginning.
The charges
Brand is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of attempted indecent assault. The trial has heard from six women who say they were the victims of sexual misconduct from Brand between 1999 and 2009.
He is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room in 1999 after meeting her at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth. In 2001, an MTV worker says Brand tried to drag her into a toilet at work when he was one of the channel's star presenters, but she said she managed to wrench herself away.
Brand is accused of groping another MTV worker's breasts in a Soho bar in 2004, then forcing the woman into oral sex after dragging her to a toilet. He is accused of kissing and groping a radio worker in 2005 in front of members of his entourage, and sexually assaulting a Channel 4 staffer in 2009 by thrusting his head into her lap when the comedian's aides had forced her to give him a massage. And Brand is accused of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009 after meeting her at one of his Hammersmith Apollo stand-up performances.
Brand denies all the charges. The trial continues.
