Katy Perry told concert-goers in July that she believed her ex-husband Russell Brand 'should be in jail', months before he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault. The comment came on the first night of her Out of Office UK tour, four months before the guilty verdict.
Comment made during interactive game
Perry, 41, made the remark while playing an interactive game with the audience at Blenheim Palace Festival in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Fans' faces were broadcast on a giant laptop and she asked them to do various poses. One fan was asked to 'pose like you've just seen your ex', to which Katy joked through the microphone: "I hope my ex isn't here, he should be in jail."
Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was married to Perry from 2010 to 2012.
Trial details and legal submissions
Jurors in the Brand trial were blocked from hearing about Katy Perry after the prosecution had wanted to mention their marriage. In legal submissions ahead of the trial, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC said: "The prosecution recognise that matters post 2009 involving his [Brand's] relationship with Katy Perry may be sensitive, as may his previous faiths, and we are content to remove these from the opening."
In his pre-trial argument, Brand's defence lawyer Ian Winter KC said a complainant claimed Perry may have been present when Brand put his head in her lap while working on a project for Channel 4. Winter said, "She [the complainant] says that other people were in the room and witnessed it, possibly including the defendant's future wife, Ms Katy Perry."
Perry's role in the case
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Perry was not asked for a witness statement during the investigation. Statements from two of Brand's ex-girlfriends were read aloud at Southwark Crown Court as part of his defence. The only reference to Perry in the case was when Brand took to the stand to give evidence and mentioned their 14-month marriage in relation to a time of his life when he'd achieved "staggering fame".
The duo began dating in 2009 after meeting on the set of his film Get Him to the Greek. They married a year later in a traditional Hindu and spiritual ceremony, but it was short-lived and they split in 2012.
Perry's past comments on the relationship
Speaking about the relationship during an interview in 2020 with TV show 60 Minutes Australia, Perry said, "It was just like a tornado, it was everything happening at once." In 2013 she told Vogue, "At first when I met him, he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they're like, I can't handle the equalness. He didn't like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting."
