Jemima Goldsmith has publicly accused her ex-boyfriend Russell Brand of 'violence, coercive control and abuse', stating she had to call the police to remove him from her home during a 'violent incident' in 2014. Her statement follows Brand's sentencing to 10 and a half years in prison after being convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Goldsmith's Statement on X
In a post on X, Goldsmith said she felt compelled to speak out due to 'misleading reports and speculation around the facts of a harassment injunction that was taken out to protect me and my family.' She described being 'put in a position now where I feel that I have no choice other than to do so.'
Goldsmith, who dated Brand in 2014, said she had 'always been strongly and unequivocally on the side of all of Brand's victims' and was 'in awe' of those who testified at the trial. She detailed her own experience, stating, 'I had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident.'
Details of the 2014 Incident and Injunction
The 52-year-old TV producer explained she chose not to press charges at the time, worried about the impact of press attention on her 'then teenage children'. She added that she has 'neither seen nor spoken to Brand since that period in 2014'.
Goldsmith also discussed a lifelong injunction taken out by her and Brand in October 2015, which banned Szilvia Berki from talking about an alleged assault by Brand. She said she had 'cooperated fully' with the investigation, providing a 'truthful statement about what [she] saw', and accused Berki of later 'embarking on a campaign of vicious antisemitic and threatening abuse online and in emails.'
Injunction Variation Attempts
Goldsmith stated she became aware that Berki was attempting to vary the terms of the injunction last year. She said she instructed her lawyer to agree to the variation so Berki could speak to police again, but noted that 'Her barrister has not responded to my lawyer since May of this year despite trying to engage him.'
She added that any change to the injunction must also be agreed by Brand, over whom she has no ability to compel, as she has not seen or spoken to him in over a decade. Concluding her message, Goldsmith said she hoped this would 'help clarify' her involvement and expressed relief that Brand has 'finally faced justice'. Brand was sentenced to over 10 years in jail, including nine years for the count of rape, and will be on the sex offender's register for life.
