A 2010 red-carpet interview featuring Katy Perry and Russell Brand has resurfaced after Brand was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
The former couple were attending the Vanity Fair Oscars Party when a reporter asked them about the Academy Awards in an interview broadcast live on air.
Brand appeared irritated after Perry remarked: “You didn’t watch it.” He insisted that he had watched the ceremony and began explaining which part he had enjoyed.
He then produced a small black sign bearing the word “Obey” and held it up towards Perry. She fell silent, while the reporter asked: “Katy, how do you deal with this guy?”
Perry appeared hesitant and uncomfortable as Brand’s sign was later seen several times during the evening, including in photographs of him holding it.
The singer and comedian met on a film set in 2009 and married less than four months after beginning their relationship, in a Hindu ceremony in India. Brand filed for divorce in December 2011, after 14 months of marriage.
Perry later said that Brand ended the relationship by text message while she was on tour. Speaking to Vogue in 2013, she said: “Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.”
She added: “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.”
Perry also said she had initially felt responsible for the marriage ending, but had later discovered “the real truth”, which she said she could not disclose because she kept it “locked in my safe for a rainy day”.
Reports have claimed that Perry has received multiple offers to discuss the marriage, but has declined to consider them until Brand’s trial was over. A source was quoted as saying: “She has a lot to say. There is a lot about that marriage which people don’t know.”
Brand, 51, was denied bail following his conviction and is due to be sentenced on Monday. Perry has not publicly commented on the accusations against her former husband.
