Thames Valley Police have confirmed that Russell Brand was asked to leave his ex-girlfriend Jemima Goldsmith's Oxfordshire home after an assault was reported in 2014. Officers were contacted by the alleged victim on July 25 2014, but no arrests were made following the incident, and Brand left the address "as per the victim's wishes", according to a police statement.
Brand and Ms Goldsmith reportedly dated for a year in 2014. The confirmation comes after Brand was jailed for 10 years and six months at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, following his conviction for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Goldsmith's statement on social media
Ms Goldsmith posted on X on Monday, saying she had personal experience of the comedian's "violence, coercive control and abuse". Her statement added: "I had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident."
She said she was "in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand's trial" and that she had assisted the journalists who exposed him. In the 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".
Reasons for not pressing charges
Ms 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 wrote: "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 added: "Over several years, I assisted the journalists who finally exposed him; Ros Urwin, Louisa Compton and Dorothy Byrne. I also undertook to testify in court to his abusiveness, if the newspaper that published the victims' accounts were ever to be sued."
Sentencing and trial details
Brand was sentenced on Monday after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault. The comedian was branded a "sexual predator" by judge Mr Justice Bennathan at Southwark Crown Court. A four-week trial heard how Brand preyed on women he encountered on his way to becoming one of Britain's best-known comedians, a lauded TV and radio host, and a Hollywood actor who was briefly married to singer Katy Perry.
