A woman who alleges Russell Brand raped her in a hotel room has said he turned from “camp, friendly and effeminate” to “monster-like” before the alleged assault.
The 51-year-old actor and comedian faces seven charges – three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault and one of indecent assault.
The allegations, made by six female complainants, span a 10-year period between 1999 and 2009. He denies the charges.
One of the women told the jury at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday: “He was just dark and arrogant and performing – he was scary, he was demanding.”
The woman told police she met Brand before he was famous while attending the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999. She alleges he later raped her.
The woman said she was left feeling “dirty” and afraid she may be pregnant in the aftermath of the alleged attack.
Before the alleged rape, the woman also said Brand made her take photos of him with his top off, which were shown to the jury.
The jury were played a police interview with the woman recorded in 2023, when reporting the alleged crime, before she was called to the witness box on Thursday.
The complainant said she and Brand had gone back to a hotel room. She told the police officer she thought Brand “was gay” when they met earlier and she didn’t feel like he was “trying it on with her”.
The woman said she had been in the bathroom, but when she came out “he had like briefs on – and I was like taken aback and shocked. He was prancing around”.
The complainant alleged Brand told her: “Don’t worry, that’s how I am.”
She recalled thinking “what on earth have I got into” when, she claims, a shirtless Brand made her take photos of him before the alleged attack.
She was heard telling the officer: “I’m reporting that Russell Brand did rape me.
“What I’m going to say now – then, I second guessed myself if it was rape because it was so normal.
“Sorry… he raped me basically – I know that happened. I remember him touching my breasts a lot – while kissing my neck.”
During the video evidence, Brand watched the TV screen attached to the dock – rarely taking his eyes away. He appeared to be listening attentively and hardly moved his position throughout.
Describing the alleged encounter, the woman later told the jury: “He was big, I felt threatened and he’s half-naked… I didn’t think at that point his intentions were good.”
“He was the centre of the show, it was like it was back on stage – he wasn’t the [same] person I was chatting to.”
She added: “He just changed suddenly from this… camp, friendly and effeminate to monster-like.”
The woman recounted to police how Brand acted “like Basil Fawlty when he does his goose steps” before the alleged rape.
She told the officer: “I remember him being like an ostrich – like a bird because he was very leggy.
“I wasn’t laughing, I just remember him jumping up and down being silly.”
The woman said after Brand left the room she was “just sitting there crying and I felt stupid,” adding: “In that moment in time I was just shocked.”
At one point in the police interview, she cried while saying “this was something dirty that had happened”.
She said she “thought it was my fault”, adding that she was “having nightmares” about the possibility of being pregnant.
The complainant said she had delayed coming forward because she was worried it would impact her professional life. “I was told if you come out with this, your career is done,” she said.
Under cross-examination Brand’s barrister, Ian Winter KC put it to the complainant that when she first met Brand she welcomed his attention.
“I welcomed his company, not what followed,” the woman replied.
He then suggested that she fell under his spell and that she wanted to spend more time with him.
The woman replied: “That’s incorrect. I did not fall under his spell and I did not find him attractive. “
Asked by the defence why she agreed to go back to the hotel room with Brand, she responded: “I’m telling you… I thought he was a gay man, very softly spoken, very effeminate.
“I felt safe – I felt sexually safe with him. He was very intelligent and that appealed to me, not in a sexual sense. “
The woman became tearful several times while presenting her evidence from the witness box.
At one point the judge told the witness to “take a moment, catch your breath”, after she became emotional.
Brand’s barrister later challenged the complainant about why she did not run back into the bathroom or leave the room when she realised Brand had removed some of his clothes.
She replied: “What was I supposed to do? Hide in bathroom? Walk out of the room? Walk past him? I had no phone, no reception, no idea where I was. Run into the night with him following me?”
Referring to photographs she had taken of Brand, she said: “I took those photographs; he told me to take them; he was showing off; he was prancing around… I was scared… I couldn’t fight him.
“I blame myself for allowing him back into my room,” the woman said.
She was also challenged by the defence barrister about why she didn’t report her allegation about Brand to the police in Bournemouth.
She said: “I didn’t report it as I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”
The woman told the jury that after she says she was raped by Brand she blamed herself “in that moment”.
“I hate that I blamed myself, I shouldn’t have to blame myself.”
She also told jurors: “I regret to this day the error in judgment thinking this man would not rape me.
Russell Brand denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
He has said that any sexual contact if it happened, would have been consensual.
The trial continues and is expected to last for six weeks.
Brand rose to fame as a stand-up comedian and became a household name as host of TV shows such as Big Brother’s Big Mouth, and with his own radio programmes on stations including BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music.
He went on to establish a Hollywood career, starring in films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek. In recent years, he has turned to podcasting and now lives in Florida in the United States.