LONDON – One of six women who allege British actor and comedian Russell Brand raped or abused them over a decade broke down in tears as she told police she blamed herself for being raped by him, his trial heard on Oct 15.
Brand, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and the former husband of US singer Katy Perry, is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault between 1999 and 2009.
The 51-year-old denies the allegations. His trial began at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Oct 14, when prosecutors described him as a ruthless and manipulative sexual predator.
On the second day of his trial, jurors were played a police interview with a woman who alleges Brand raped her while they were both at the Labour Party conference in 1999.
She said a 2023 documentary, which made allegations of sexual misconduct against Brand, prompted her to contact police, adding: "I saw how manipulative he was... I was thinking this is what he did to me but in a different way.”
The woman also said: “I know I said ‘no’... I knew I couldn’t get out of the situation. ‘Do I shout, do I scream?’”
She told police that she felt that “this is something dirty that happened to me... and I thought it was my fault”, adding: “But in those days it was your fault, you know?”
All six complainants came forward after the 2023 documentary, Judge Joel Bennathan told jurors on Oct 15.
He said the women whose allegations were featured in the documentary “were not prepared to speak to the police” and had not been tested in court. Their allegations are not part of this case.
He added: “The defence may suggest the programme caused the complainants, or at least some of them, to revisit historic sexual events and in their memories twist them from the consensual acts they were to the crimes they now allege.”
The trial, which is expected to last around six weeks, continues. REUTERS