Russell Brand behaved as a “ruthless” sexual predator who assaulted six women over a decade, a prosecutor told jurors as the actor-comedian’s trial opened at Southwark Crown Court.
Brand, 51, denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. The alleged offences are said to have taken place between 1999 and 2009.
Riel Karmy-Jones, prosecuting, said the six women did not know one another and alleged that the incidents occurred in a hotel room, workplaces, a bar toilet cubicle and at Brand’s home.
She told the court that Brand had an “indiscriminate and voracious” desire for sexual contact, adding that “women were simply a means to an end”.
“He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipulative. And, the prosecution say, he was a sexual predator,” Ms Karmy-Jones said.
The earliest allegation dates to 1999, when Brand was a rising stand-up comedian performing at a cabaret on the fringe of the Labour Party’s annual conference in Bournemouth. The prosecutor alleged that he raped a woman in a hotel room during the event.
Another woman alleges that Brand tried to drag her into the men’s toilets at the office building where she worked in 2001. “There can be little doubt as to what Mr Brand’s intention was,” Ms Karmy-Jones told the jury.
A third woman alleges that Brand sexually assaulted her in the toilets of a London bar in 2004, telling her “Don’t be a spoilsport” when she asked him to stop.
Brand listened from the dock as the prosecutor outlined the allegations. He arrived at court amid a crowd of photographers and video journalists and said he felt “blessed”.
“I feel, of course, concerned but hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved,” Brand said. “That’s my prayer.”
Brand became prominent in the early 2000s through risqué stand-up, television work and his BBC radio show. He also appeared in the films Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek.
In recent years, he has moved away from mainstream media, relocated to Florida and developed a large online following through videos about wellness, conspiracy theories and his religious devotion.
The identities of the women involved are protected for life under British law.
