By Michael Holden
LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – One of six women who accuse Russell Brand of sex offences told a London court on Friday that the British actor and comedian turned into a “wild-eyed maniac” when he tried to drag her into a toilet cubicle at her workplace.
Brand, once one of Britain’s most high-profile broadcasters and the former husband of US singer Katy Perry, is on trial accused of three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women between 1999 and 2009.
The 51-year-old denies the allegations and told police after his arrest that he had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.
The second of the complainants told London’s Southwark Crown Court that in 2001 Brand had tried to pull her into the male toilets at MTV Europe, in London, where she was working.
Initially she said she had exchanged “banter” with Brand about the T-shirt he was wearing, which she told him she liked, but she said his demeanour had changed after she accompanied him to show him where the bathrooms were located.
She said Brand had been quite affable but then become “a wild-eyed maniac trying to pull me into the toilet”.
BRAND’S LAWYER SAYS INCIDENT ‘SHORT-LIVED’
“He grabbed me by the arm and started to pull me and said ‘come on, come in with me’,” she said. “He started to plead almost, ‘go on, go on, come in’.”
She said although he had grabbed her arm hard she was able to wrench her arm free.
“I said to him ‘what are you doing, are you mad, let me go’,” she told the court.
She said when he realised “it wasn’t happening” because she was too strong, he went into the toilets. The whole incident lasted about 20 seconds, she said.
The woman did not report what had happened to her employer at the time, saying it would be just her word against his, but went to the police after seeing a 2023 documentary about Brand.
His lawyer Ian Winter put it to her that Brand had pleaded with her to go into the toilet for some sort of sexual activity and had accepted she was not consenting, with her view of what had occurred changing after she had seen the documentary.
It was a “very short-lived, very minor incident where he tried to get you into the lavatory and you refused and he left it there”, he suggested.
All six of the complainants, who are legally entitled to lifelong anonymity, came forward after the documentary, Judge Joel Bennathan told the jury on Thursday.
The trial, which is expected to last around six weeks, continues.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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