Brand Denies Rape in Court, Says Consent Is Crucial Issue

Russell Brand told jurors in London that he was “obsessed” with sex when he was younger, while firmly rejecting a claim that he ever set himself a “goal” of sleeping with 5,000 women.

Giving evidence at his rape trial, the former comedian, 51, said he has never forced himself on a woman and stressed that consent is “non-negotiable” and “more important than sex itself”.

Mr Brand also blamed the media for his downfall, telling Southwark Crown Court that his life unravelled after 2023 reporting on sexual misconduct allegations. He said that as the trial approached he had been unable to find friends or former colleagues prepared to give evidence on his behalf.

Six women accuse Mr Brand of sex assaults between 1999 and 2009, including forced sex in a hotel and sexual assaults in a bar, at a radio station and at Channel 4.

The court heard that Mr Brand saved the phone number of a fan who alleges he raped her with the letter “T” beside her name, which he said stood for “tart”.

During sharp questioning by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC, Mr Brand denied pretending to be gay as part of his pursuit of women.

The issue arose after evidence from Mr Brand’s former friend, Mark Pinheiro, who told the court that during a car journey to the Labour party conference in Bournemouth, Brand had boasted about his methods for “pulling” women and had allegedly spoken of an ambition to sleep with 5,000 women.

Ms Karmy-Jones asked: “Is it a goal you may have had?”

Mr Brand replied: “I don’t agree, I don’t recall the conversation you are referring to.”

When she put it to him again, he answered: “No, not a goal.”

Mr Brand accepted he had been “obsessed” with sex in his younger years, but disputed the suggestion it dominated his ability to function.

Ms Karmy-Jones asked him: “Do you accept that you were desperate for it and sometimes couldn’t function without it?”

“No,” Mr Brand said.

The prosecutor also challenged Mr Brand over his approach when the claims first emerged, telling the court he did not answer police questions and suggesting he had been “forging” his account around the evidence of his alleged victims. Mr Brand rejected that allegation.

At points, the court heard, Mr Brand fell silent in response to questions, prompting Ms Karmy-Jones to ask whether he found them “difficult to answer”.

Returning to Mr Pinheiro’s account of the Bournemouth trip and the alleged 5,000-women remark, Mr Brand said: “While I don’t remember, it’s entirely possible it’s the kind of badinage (banter) I would have engaged in when I was 24.”

He added that if he had told Mr Pinheiro he would not leave a situation with a woman without a conquest, it would have been intended as a “joke”.

“That sounds specifically like a riff on a Woody Allen joke when he said the only advice my dad ever gave me on his death bed was ‘always try and (f***) the waitress’.”

On that same Bournemouth trip, Mr Brand is accused of raping a woman he met on the final night of a week of performances of the Soapbox Cabaret, an event staged on the fringes of the 1999 Labour party conference.

He told the court he was “pretty excited” to attend the conference at a time before he was famous, while also conceding he was “more interested in having sex than the show”.

Jurors heard it is alleged Mr Brand pretended to be gay to persuade the woman he is accused of raping to let him into her hotel room.

Mr Karmy-Jones then showed the court a page from Mr Brand’s book, My Booky Wook, featuring a photograph of him aged seven and the caption: “This is the exact moment when I decided to act gay to attract girls. It took 15 years to produce results.”

“Is that what you did Mr Brand? Pretend to be gay to attract women?,” asked the prosecutor.

“No,” Mr Brand replied.

He then said: “It’s a joke. ‘Look at me, I’m a little boy in my garden and 15 years later… I was meeting women’. It was a joke.”

Among the allegations faced by Mr Brand is that he raped a fan after meeting her at one of his Hammersmith Apollo stand-up performances in 2009.

He told jurors he saved her contact details with a “T”, which he said meant “tart”.

The woman alleges Mr Brand forced himself on her at his north London townhouse a few days after she had willingly taken part in a threesome with him backstage at the Apollo.

Asked what he meant by “tart”, Mr Brand said: “That was what I used to denote casual hook-ups.”

He also said he placed two asterisks next to her name to signify: “Never, ever forget this individual, this is a memorable encounter.”

Mr Brand is accused of forcing the woman into anal sex when she came to his home. In evidence, he said he was “excited and enthusiastic” ahead of their meeting and believed she was consenting based on how she had behaved during the backstage threesome.

He suggested she did not say “no” or ask him to stop, describing what he said he perceived as “coquettishness, coyness” but consensual.

He told the court he could not remember exchanging texts with the woman months later after a chance meeting at the Edinburgh Festival, but accepted it was possible he messaged that he wanted to “push you further”.

Mr Brand said he may have been indicating they could “have sex more, maybe have another threesome”, and conceded he may have said “sorry” after she told him he had treated her “like an animal”.

However, he said any apology would have been prompted by the fact she had “expressed sadly, unhappiness, regret”.

At the outset of his evidence, the court heard Mr Brand repeatedly gave a terse “no” as individual allegations were put to him and he was asked whether he had raped and sexually assaulted the women.

Mr Brand faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one charge of attempted indecent assault.

The trial continues.