LONDON – British actor and comedian Russell Brand anally raped a woman who had willingly gone to his home for consensual sex, ignoring her pleas for him to stop, the accuser told police during an interview in a London court on Oct. 20.
Brand, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and the former husband of American singer Katy Perry, is on trial for three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women between 1999 and 2009.
The 51-year-old denies the allegations and told police after his arrest that he never engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity and that the accusers could have reimagined the events.
On October 20, Southwark Crown Court heard evidence from the final three accusers.
During an interview with police outside court, one of the women, who said she was a massive a fan of the comedian, said she met Brand in 2009 after he “picked” her and a friend in the lobby to go for drinks after going to one of his concerts.
She later said she and another woman returned to his dressing room where sex occurred, but she did not have penetrative sex with him.
After Brand contacted her several times over the next week, she said she knowingly and willingly agreed to go to his house to have sex with him.
When she arrived, Brand told her, “this is the best decision you’ve ever made,” the woman told police.
She said Brand took a shower because her hair “smelled funny” and she was brushing her teeth, which she said was really weird.
She said they were having sex when he turned her onto her stomach and, without warning or asking permission, he anally raped her despite her telling him to stop.
Accused says incident ‘lived with me ever since’
Afterwards, she said he looked horrified and she thought he was going to apologize, but instead he told her, “you need to clean up the mess” she made.
She said she did as he told her, while he briefly watched television, took a phone call, then got up and left the room. Then she told her mother and went to a sexual health clinic for testing, fearing she had contracted HIV.
“It’s something that has always been with me,” she said during the police interview, often in tears. “I blamed myself for years.”
She said she said, “I don’t want to wear this anymore, I don’t want this to live inside me.”
Earlier, another complainant told the court that Brand assaulted her at a radio station in 2004 or 2005. She said the alleged assault had been “frantic” before she managed to fight him off.
The sixth woman alleged that Brand assaulted her while she worked at Channel 4 television where they were involved in a recording project. She said she was forced to give him a massage during which he put his head between her legs.
She said she reported the incident to her supervisor at the time.
The trial continues on October 21. REUTERS
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