Russell Brand, 51, is set to receive a custodial prison sentence today after being found guilty of rape and three counts of sexual assault following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. As the sentencing hearing unfolds, passages from his 2007 autobiography, My Booky Wook, have resurfaced, detailing his cruelty towards the family dog, Topsy, when he was around 11 years old.
Autobiography Recalls Cruelty to Family Dog
In the book, Brand recounted his interactions with Topsy, referring to his mother's boyfriend, Colin, who introduced a rule that banned the dog from going upstairs. He wrote: "When we first got Topsy, she would be allowed to sleep in the bed with me. But when Colin came, an absurd edict was introduced whereby she was no longer allowed upstairs. I evidently had a lot of anger and hate in me about this because I would perch at the top of the stairs and lure her to come up—'Topsy! Topsy! Topsy!'".
He continued: "Then, when she would slink nervously upward to the forbidden terrain of the upper floor, I would suddenly become Mr. Hyde. 'Oh dear, Topsy,' I would declaim, in a rather arch manner, 'you know perfectly well you're not allowed upstairs' before cruelly kicking her back down to the bottom again, where I would rejoin her and give her a sympathetic cuddle, regretfully muttering, 'Oh Christ! Were you kicked down the stairs? This is terrible.'"
Brand added: "That's quite f***ed up, isn't it? My friend Matt Morgan says Topsy must've thought she lived in a house with twins—an evil one who lived on the landing, and a good one who dwelt downstairs."
Social Media Reaction
Sharing the extract on X, one social media user wrote: "I find a good bench mark in life is how people treat animals. This is Russell Brand recounting his cruelty to the family dog as a child in his 2009 biography". MP Rosie Duffield commented in response: "Vile psychopathic behaviour."
Another X user wrote: "That explains a lot of things. It's not only cruel. It's the worst kind of cruel because it encourages and then betrays trust. With the most loyal and pure of all creatures, a dog. That's a permanent disqualification." One commented: "I didn't think I could hate him more... but here we are."
Sentencing Hearing
Today, victims of Russell Brand have revealed their trauma during the sentencing. Brand stood in the dock while listening to his four victims' statements, including one powerful message from a woman inside court. Brand's wife, Laura Gallacher, was on the verge of tears in court, as her husband's barrister revealed she was standing by the disgraced comedian. Ms Gallacher and Brand exchanged several glances throughout the hearing, and she appeared to mouth "I love you" toward him when he first entered the court.
Brand was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of raping a fan in 2009 and sexually assaulting three other women in a five-year period during the peak of his career in the 2000s. The court is now preparing to hand down the custodial sentence.
