A woman has said she “couldn’t speak or breathe” when Russell Brand raped her at his London townhouse after picking her out from a crowd after one of his gigs, a court has heard.
asserted
court → say → gigs
She said the comedian looked “horrified” after the alleged attack so she assumed he would apologise but instead he told her: “Clear up the mess you’ve made.”
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you → say → mess
The woman said she “tortured herself” in the years that followed because it was one of the “most painful experiences” of her life.
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it → say → life
Brand, 51, faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women, in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999 to 2009.
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Brand → face → 2009
He denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
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He → deny → charges
The TV personality sat upright in the dock as the woman’s video-recorded police interview was played to Southwark crown court on Tuesday.
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interview → sit → Tuesday
The woman told officers she was a “massive fan” of Brand and “giddy” to meet him after one of his stand-up performances at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009.
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she → tell → 2009
She alleged he pointed to her and said “you” before inviting her, her friend and a third young woman they did not know to have drinks with him.
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they → allege → him
Brand’s security guard later invited the trio backstage where the woman performed oral sex on the actor but refused to have penetrative sex.
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woman → invite → sex
By then, the woman’s friend had left, but Brand had sex on a sofa with the third woman, who was 19.
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who → leave → woman
The woman said she felt “awful” and “disgusting” when she left the dressing room, which is when Brand asked her why she had refused to have sex with him.
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she → say → him
She told him she had a boyfriend.
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she → tell → boyfriend
to which he replied: “We don’t belong to anyone, we’re all free, the ownership of people is sort of what we’ve been sold.”
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we → reply → what
Brand asked for her phone number and began messaging and calling her.
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Brand → ask → her
She said he was “persuasive” about her visiting his three-storey townhouse in Hampstead, north-west London.
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her → say → Hampstead
Days later, the woman was picked up by Brand’s driver and taken to the star’s home knowing she would have sex with him.
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she → pick → him
“I’ve really struggled for a really long time to accept what happened to me, because I went there knowingly and willingly,” she said.
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she → struggle → me
When she arrived, she alleged that Brand told her: “This is the best decision you’ve made.”
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you → arrive → her
But when they went to Brand’s bedroom, he ordered her to have a shower because her hair smelled “funny”, and made her brush her teeth.
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her → go → teeth
She said it made her feel “really dirty”, before adding: “At the time it did feel like a thrilling thing to go to the house of this person I really fancied, and I loved comedy.
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I → say → comedy
But all those things didn’t feel that good.”
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things → feel → ?
She described his dark bedroom and “enormous” bed, and the distinctive black toilet paper in his ensuite bathroom.
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She → describe → bathroom
Pictures later shown to the jury showed a crucifix above his bed and black furnishings.
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Pictures → show → bed
The woman told how they had consensual vaginal sex but that she did not enjoy the experience, saying: “It felt very awkward.
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It → tell → experience
It didn’t matter who I was, and I just sort of wanted it to be over.”
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it → matter → ?
It was then that Brand anally raped the woman, she told police.
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she → rap → police
“He didn’t give me a warning, he didn’t ask,” she said.
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she → give → warning
“I don’t know how long it took for me between it going on and me asking him to stop.
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me → know → him
I don’t think it was very long.
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it → think → ?
I felt like I couldn’t speak or breathe, the amount of pain.”
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I → feel → pain
She alleged she begged him to stop, at first really quietly and then more loudly, but Brand continued.
She said he looked “absolutely fucking horrified” after the alleged attack, adding: “I thought he was going to say sorry … but actually what he said was: ‘You need to clear up the mess you’ve made.’”
She said one of Brand’s aides later asked her to leave because the comedian had a gig.
“The way I would describe that event to people after was that it was traumatic and that he hurt me and harmed me.
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he → allege → me
And when I asked him to stop, he didn’t,” she said.
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she → ask → him
She told the court she had gone to a sexual health clinic afterwards because she feared she had HIV, and she became unwell and anxious.
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she → tell → HIV
“In the years that followed, if I spoke to people about it, it was was very much laced with ‘I shouldn’t have gone’, and I think I tortured myself because I think it was one of the most painful experiences I’d gone through.
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I → follow → experiences
Earlier on Tuesday, two women who have separately accused Brand of sexually assaulting them at work in front of his entourage gave evidence from behind a screen.
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who → accuse → screen
The first woman said Brand laughed after “mauling” her by squeezing her breasts and kissing her sloppily while she was working at a radio station in 2004 or 2005.
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she → say → 2004
She told the court he “overpowered her with such strength” during the “violent” and “frenzied” attack that took place in front of his entourage in the middle of her work day.
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that → tell → day
She said she had “buried” the assault because there was such a culture of fear in the media in the 2000s and Brand was a “big star”.
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Brand → say → 2000s
The second woman, who worked at Channel 4, said she was “repulsed” when Brand placed his head in her lap during a filming project after she was asked to give him a massage.
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she → work → massage
She said Brand was with two men - named in court as Jack Bayles and Gareth Roy - during the alleged assault in 2009, which she reported to her line manager.
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she → say → manager
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
