Russell Brand, found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, has a documented history of misogynistic behaviour detailed in his own memoir and public statements. These admissions have resurfaced following his conviction at Southwark Crown Court.
Spitting incident in 2007 memoir
In his 2007 memoir, Brand wrote about an incident with a woman named Michaela, during a period when he said he was "able to chat 'em up [woman], and kidnap them." He recounted a row at his house that ended with him spitting in her face after she had helped him to climax.
Brand described rushing the woman into his house and being slapped by her. He wrote: "I grabbed her shoulders and bum's rushed her towards the front door. As I escorted Michaela through the front door, I felt very strongly that I needed to avenge the slap – 'She can't slap me...' I spat in her face. Yes that's right, I spat in the face of a beautiful woman… I was convinced that it was the only course of action and that there'd be no consequences."
Admissions of a 'victims list' and smashing a phone
In the same memoir, Brand admitted to creating a "Victims List" in 2005, listing women he wronged due to his sex addiction. He stated: "Had to write a victims' list – a litany of the women I've wronged as a result of my sexual addiction. I feel like Saddam Hussein trying to pick out individual Kurds."
Brand also confessed to destroying a sex worker's phone after what he described as a disappointing sexual encounter. He wrote: "Eventually she agreed to have sex, but a kind of weary, half-hearted, semi-erect, bored, disappointing bit of sex, for which I'd paid a lot of money. During this act of tawdry friction her phone rang again." He described taking the phone from her hand and throwing it at a wall, calling it "the worst act of misogyny I've committed since the spitting debacle."
Concerning comedy and conviction details
Brand made numerous alarming jokes during his comedy career. On a BBC radio show in 2007, he joked about not getting "bogged down in things like age, race or whether or not they're awake." In a 2013 performance, since removed from YouTube, he joked he had "raped someone once" and "killed her after," and also made light of child rape in ancient Greece.
On Tuesday, after eight-and-a-half hours of jury deliberation, Brand was found guilty of sexually assaulting an MTV employee at a Soho bar in 2004, a Capital Radio staff member in a corridor in 2005, and a Channel 4 employee he compelled to massage him in 2009. He was also convicted of raping a young admirer he met after a performance in 2009. He was acquitted of orally raping an MTV employee, attempting to drag another MTV staff member into a toilet in 2001, and raping a woman he met at a cabaret performance.
Brand is set to be sentenced on Thursday, and the Metropolitan Police continue to investigate additional complaints lodged by two further women.
