Russell Brand accuser describes alleged rape at Hampstead home to court
A woman’s recorded police interview was played at Southwark Crown Court, and she faced questions about an encounter with Brand in 2009. He denies the charges.
Russell Brand’s trial at Southwark Crown Court heard a woman’s allegation on 21 October that he raped her during a 2009 encounter at his home in Hampstead, London. Her recorded police interview was played to the court, and she also answered questions in person. Brand denies the charges against him.
What the woman said about the 2009 encounter
The woman said she met Brand after one of his stand-up shows at the Hammersmith Apollo. She told police she was a fan and had willingly taken part in a sexual encounter backstage. Days later, she agreed to visit his Hampstead home, knowing they would have sex, according to the Evening Standard’s account of the interview played in court.
She alleged that consensual sex at the house turned into rape when Brand began anal sex without her consent. She said she repeatedly asked him to stop. Her account is an allegation before the court, rather than a finding against him.
The woman said she later told Brand he had made her feel ‘like a piece of meat’. Describing a subsequent exchange, she said he called her ‘dirty’ and said he wanted to ‘push you further’. She told police that she replied, ‘I think you’ve pushed me far enough,’ and that Brand then apologised, the Evening Standard reported.
How Brand’s barrister challenged her account
During questioning reported by the Daily Mail, Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC, asked the woman about her decision to go to the house. She agreed she had gone there intending to have consensual sex and said she did not expect a relationship with Brand. When Winter suggested she had been willing to engage in sexual acts because she was ‘obsessed’ with him, she denied it.
The woman said Brand’s public profile influenced her decision to meet him. Asked whether she would have engaged in a sexual act backstage had he been an ordinary stranger, she said she would not have. She also disputed Winter’s suggestion that she had seen women throwing bras or lifting their shirts at the performance, the Daily Mail reported.
Brand denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault involving six women. His position is that the encounters were consensual. The court must decide the charges; the testimony reported on 21 October concerns one of the women.
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Sources and context
- Russell Brand ‘treated fan he raped like a piece of meat’, court toldEvening Standard (Tristan Kirk; PA Wire photo credit)
- Russell Brand trial live: Accuser pleaded 'can you stop?', court hearsDaily Mail (Rebecca Camber, Mark Duell and Inderdeep Bains)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.