Russell Brand‘s criminal trial in London continued on Friday, with his second accuser alleging that Brand was a “wild-eyed maniac” as he tried to pull her into a bathroom.
The actor and comedian has been charged with three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault relating to incidents with six women spanning from 1999 to 2009. He has pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations against him.
Arriving to Southwark Crown Court, Brand wore a grey suit, white shirt and grey skinny tie. His wife, Laura Gallacher, was by his side again after not attending court on Thursday. He told reporters outside the courthouse that the trial has been an “extraordinary and stressful situation,” according to Sky News.
“But it is also an exploration of truth and justice. As I’ve said before, I pray for everybody involved,” he continued. “It’s in a way very, very sad but hopefully it can bring about some conclusions that are beneficial.”
On Friday afternoon, the second alleged victim testified in person from behind a blue screen to protect her identity. In the U.K., all complainants in sexual assault cases are granted automatic lifelong anonymity if they so choose. She said she met Brand while working at MTV in 2001 and complimented his T-shirt, which read “I Am Spartacus,” referencing Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film. It was “jovial and cheerful banter,” she said, according to Sky News.
He then asked her where the bathroom was, and she agreed to show him as she was going that direction anyway. Once they got to the bathroom, “his demeanour changed,” she claimed. He allegedly grabbed her arm “hard” and pleaded with her to “come in, come in, come in,” she added. The woman tried to pull herself away, and said at this point Brand had a “wild look in his eye.” Once she broke free, she called him an “idiot” and then he “gave up” and went into the toilet.
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After the incident, she questioned how Brand “went from jovial and friendly to this wild-eyed maniac,” according to Sky News. She proceeded to tell two colleagues but not her managers as Brand, who hosted several programs for MTV at the time, was a huge “asset” to MTV and she thought she wouldn’t be believed. Following the Channel 4 documentary that investigated Brand in 2023, she reached out to the police. “I decided I thought it was the right thing to come forward,” she said.
The woman was then cross-examined by Brand’s defence lawyer, Ian Winter KC, who claimed that Brand was not pulling her into the bathroom to assault her but rather to have a “consensual” sexual encounter.
“Why would you try to drag someone into a toilet unless you wanted to assault them?” she replied. “I was there, I know what happened.”
When Winter suggested that her memory of the alleged incident could have been altered by the 2023 media circus surrounding Brand, she said, “I knew it was wrong,” adding that the documentary and press coverage “did not change my view of the situation.”
On Thursday, the court heard from the first alleged victim via her police video interview. She described in detail an alleged rape by Brand that occurred at the Labour Party conference in 1999 after she met Brand at a cabaret show he was performing in. The woman was then cross-examined in person by Winter, again from behind a screen.
The first complainant alleged on Thursday that after talking to Brand at the show, she invited him to come back to her hotel room. She said she thought he was gay at first and felt “sexually safe” with him. However, after she went to the bathroom, the complainant alleges that she emerged to find Brand partially undressed. He demanded that she take photos of him topless — which the court then viewed — and then allegedly raped her.
“I was frightened. I remember feeling ‘what on earth have I got myself into’ — and then he did rape me,” she alleged. She claimed that she did say no, but struggled to get him off of her as he was “really heavy.”
“I did say no,” she said. “I didn’t want his dirty penis inside me. I value my body.”
Brand’s trial is expected to last six weeks.
From Variety US