A woman accusing Russell Brand of sex offences has told a London court that the comedian became a “wild-eyed maniac” as he allegedly tried to pull her into a toilet at MTV Europe.
The complainant, the second of six women giving evidence at Brand’s trial, said the incident happened in 2001 while she was working at the broadcaster’s London offices.
She told Southwark Crown Court that she had exchanged “banter” with Brand about a T-shirt he was wearing and later accompanied him to show him where the bathrooms were.
Although he had initially been affable, she said his demeanour changed when they reached the toilets. “He grabbed me by the arm and started to pull me and said ‘come on, come in with me’,” she told the jury.
She said Brand then pleaded with her, saying: “go on, go on, come in”. The woman told the court that he had grabbed her arm hard, but she managed to wrench it free.
“I said to him ‘what are you doing, are you mad, let me go’,” she said.
The woman said Brand went into the toilets after realising “it wasn’t happening” because she was too strong. She described the incident as lasting about 20 seconds and said she did not report it to her employer at the time because it would have been her word against his.
She went to police after seeing a 2023 documentary about Brand, the court heard. His lawyer, Ian Winter, suggested the incident had been a “very short-lived, very minor” attempt to persuade her to enter the toilet for sexual activity, which ended when she refused.
Brand, 51, denies three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault involving six women between 1999 and 2009. After his arrest, he told police he had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.
Judge Joel Bennathan told jurors that all six complainants, who are legally entitled to lifelong anonymity, came forward after the documentary. The trial is expected to last around six weeks and continues.
