Russell Brand is a “ruthless and manipulative” predator who laughed at women when they refused to agree to his sexual demands, a court has heard.
Brand, 51, is accused of forcing women into sexual acts and kissing and groping them in an “obsessive” campaign to sleep with 5,000 women.
Prosecution opens case
One of the alleged victims claims Brand apologised for treating her “like an animal”, Southwark Crown Court heard on Wednesday, and another said he told her “don’t be a spoilsport” when she refused to consent.
Some of his accusers say Brand laughed at them after they had tried to repel his advances, while members of his entourage have been accused of failing to step in to stop him.
Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC dubbed Brand a “sexual predator” who was “ruthless, calculated and manipulative”, and said women have told police he was “childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met”.
Charges and plea
Brand has pleaded not guilty to three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault, after being accused by six women over alleged incidents between 1999 and 2009.
He says all sexual contact was consensual, and is set to suggest that his accusers have “reimagined” the encounters they had with him after seeing media reports of his alleged sexual misconduct.
Opening the case, Ms Karmy-Jones said Brand’s desire for sex was “indiscriminate and voracious”, and he used a mix of humour, charm, and compliments while “trying to fulfil his sexual desire”.
“Uppermost in his mind was his insatiable desire to get what he wanted with whomever he wanted it from,” she said.
Allegations from 1999 to 2009
A woman who met Brand at the 1999 Labour Party conference alleges she was raped by the comedian in her hotel room, after he stripped off his clothes and performed Basil Fawlty-style silly walks like an ostrich.
She met Brand at a cabaret show and initially thought he was gay, the court heard, but back in the hotel room she alleges he forced her down on to the bed and raped her. Afterwards he “behaved as if nothing had happened”, said Ms Karmy-Jones.
A woman who worked at MTV with Brand alleges he once tried to drag her into a toilet cubicle in the early 2000s after she complimented his “I Am Spartacus” T-shirt.
A radio station worker says Brand “sniggered” after kissing and groping her while members of his entourage looked on.
The alleged incident happened at the radio station in the mid-2000s, when the woman said she was pushed against a wall and sexually assaulted in a “fast and frenzied” attack.
Ms Karmy-Jones said the woman looked to members of Brand’s entourage “hoping they would intervene”, but she received no help.
“Mr Brand stumbled backwards at that final push and just sniggered – like it was a joke,” she said.
“Perhaps he found their protestations amusing, funny?” the prosecutor suggested. “Funny as a display for his friends.
“The other men who were with him also joined in the laughter.”
A woman who alleges Brand groped her breasts in a Soho bar in 2004 says she saw a “big, weird grin” on Brand’s face afterwards.
She alleges he then dragged her into a toilet and raped her, allegedly ignoring her protestation and saying “come on, don’t be a spoilsport, you want to”.
A woman who alleges she was raped by Brand at his Hampstead home told police she had encountered him again the following year, and then received an apology by text.
She had engaged in consensual sex with Brand after meeting him at a Hammersmith Apollo stand-up show in 2009, but claims the comedian went on to rape her.
When she saw him again in Scotland the following year, she claims Brand called her “dirty”, telling her: “I wanna push you further.”
She says she replied: “I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal,” and claims Brand replied: “I’m sorry.”
The final alleged victim, a Channel 4 worker, has accused Brand of sexual assault as he was filming for a project in 2009.
It is said he was “friendly and nice” in the early stages of the shoot but grew annoyed, and members of his entourage then suggested the woman should give Brand a massage.
She says she objected but was coerced into giving the massage, and claims Brand then placed his head directly into her groin area.
Trial continues
Brand sat listening intently in the dock as the case against him was opened by the prosecution.
Jurors have been warned not to conduct research on Brand or look at past reporting of allegations of sexual misconduct, which he firmly denies.
The trial continues.
