Russell Brand‘s criminal trial in London heard from a third accuser on Monday, who alleged the former comedian grinned “like a clown” before pulling her into a bathroom and sexually assaulting her, according to the BBC.
The jury at Southwark Crown Court, where the six-week trial is taking place, was played a recording of the woman’s 2023 police interview. Per the BBC, the woman told detectives she met Brand at a bar in Soho in 2004, where they spoke about his Channel 4 show “Big Brother’s Big Mouth.”
“He literally just grabbed my boobs out of nowhere in the middle of the conversation, just in the middle of a conversation, and I just remember this weird maniacal grin, looming in front of me as he just grabbed my boobs,” she told officers.
“The visual I remember is just this big grin – it felt like a clown, [with] that sort of weird look in the eye,” she continued. “It was a normal conversation about him being on ‘Big Brother.’ He just moved towards [me] and grabbed both my boobs.”
She then said he “dragged me in the toilets” where he “unzipped himself” and allegedly raped her orally. The assault was “swift,” she added, leaving her “in disbelief and shock.”
“The toilets were behind where he stood,” she said. “It was literally just grab and pull. He was holding me quite strongly on the arm and pulled me in that direction… Part of me was saying just get it over with so you can get out of here.” Afterwards, she said, Brand suggested they swap phone numbers.
The woman is the third complainant to have put forward her allegations. Brand is facing seven charges from six female complainants: three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault and one of indecent assault. The alleged incidents span a 10-year period between 1999 and 2009.
Brand, who denies all charges, has pleaded not guilty.