Editor’s note: This story contains details of alleged sexual offenses that some readers may find distressing.
Russell Brand encouraged a woman to swap phone numbers after allegedly orally raping her in the toilet of a London bar, a court has heard.
On day six of Brand’s rape trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court, the jury was shown a video of a 2023 police interview with an alleged victim. She later gave witness evidence from behind a screen in court. The woman has a lifelong right to anonymity — Deadline refers to her as Complainant 3 (C3) — though she is being named in the court proceedings.
Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty. The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star has consistently denied wrongdoing, claiming that his encounters with women were consensual. From his place in the dock, he watched the police tape and listened to C3’s evidence.
C3 told police that she attended the birthday party of a British TV producer at Soho’s Nordic Bar in July 2004 when she met Brand. Deadline is not naming the producer to protect C3’s identity, though he has been identified during the court proceedings.
C3 could not recall whether she was introduced to Brand at the party, but said he arrived late at the event after filming. They got talking at the bar, and seconds into the conversation, she alleged that Brand “literally just grabbed my boobs” and had a “weird maniacal grin” on his face.
C3 told police that Brand grabbed her arm and dragged her into the toilets, describing it as “strange and bizarre and shocking.” Under cross-examination from Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter, C3 could not remember whether she told Brand not to touch her, or resisted his efforts to take her to the toilet.
Winter alleged that C3 willingly followed Brand because she was “charmed” by him. “I was not charmed in the slightest; I met this man for less than a minute when he sexually assaulted me,” she said.
Once in the restroom, the complainant alleged that Brand climbed onto the toilet seat, exposed himself, and put his penis in her mouth. “He was pushing my head in as far as he could,” she told the police interviewer, before claiming he ejaculated in her mouth.
“I closed my eyes and tried to not be there,” said the woman, who was wiping away tears as she spoke to detectives. “If I do this, maybe he won’t try to rape me further,” she recalled thinking. C3 recalled “banging on the door” to leave the toilet after asking Brand, “Can I go now?” She continued: “He opened the door and followed me to the bar and said, ‘I guess we should swap numbers now.'”
The woman said her memories of the rest of the night became “hazy” because she was in shock. She also admitted to drinking six or seven vodka, lime, and sodas.
C3 claimed that she ended up in a car with Brand as they traveled from Soho to another venue in Camden. C3 alleged that Brand exposed himself to her in the vehicle. C3 claimed that Brand thought it was “funny” and had a “weird look on his face,” as if he were saying “come on, be a sport.” She said: “I remember thinking, ‘Why am I sat in this car now.'”
C3 claimed that she phoned the TV producer “a couple of days” after the alleged incident at his birthday party and warned him that Brand was a “sexual predator” who attempted to sexually assault her. She remembered the producer saying, “I can’t believe that.”
C3 did not disclose her allegation that she was orally raped by Brand until 19 years later, in September 2023, after misconduct allegations against the comedian were published by The Times, Sunday Times, and Channel 4. C3 said she felt an obligation to come forward because she wanted “a nicer world for my daughter.”
Brand, now a MAGA-sphere influencer, faces three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault and one of indecent assault based on allegations made by six women.
Brand will set out his defense later in the trial. The court was told repeatedly that Brand declined to answer questions when interviewed by police. He instead relied on a prepared statement, in which he claimed that he did not recall meeting the women and did not remember their names. He said any sexual contact was consensual.
The trial continues.