Russell Brand had ‘big grin’ as he grabbed woman’s breasts and dragged her into toilet and raped her, woman claims

Russell Brand had ‘big grin’ as he grabbed woman’s breasts and dragged her into toilet and raped her, woman claims The comedian denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join todayAlready a member? Log in Russell Brand had a “big grin” like a “clown” as he grabbed a woman’s breasts before dragging her to the toilet where he forced her to perform a sex act, a court was told. His third accuser claims she had just met the comedian at a birthday party in a bar in Soho in July 2004 and they had been speaking for 30 seconds or “one minute max” when he grabbed her breasts with a “weird maniacal grin” in the middle of their conversation. He then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the toilet where he climbed on the toilet seat, unzipped his trousers and orally raped her, she alleged in a video-recorded police interview played to Southwark Crown Court. Brand, 51, denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault in alleged attacks against six women as he rose to fame between 1999 and 2009. The celebrity wore a grey suit, white shirt and yellow patterned neckerchief as he arrived at the central London court for the second week of the trial on Monday, accompanied by his wife, Laura Gallacher. He looked straight ahead in the dock as the video was played to the jury. “The vision that I remember is just this big grin and it was like, it felt like a clown in that sort of weird look in the eye,” the woman said. “It was just one minute a normal conversation. It wasn't any sexual flirting; it was nothing like that. It was just a normal conversation about him being on Big Brother. I remember it was a real shock. “He just moved toward me and grabbed both my boobs really quickly and then sort of let go and he then grabbed my arm and just pulled me.” In the locked toilet, he climbed on the closed toilet seat and put his hand on the back of her head and made her perform a sex act, she alleged. “I remember it felt like a force and every time I tried to move away, it was strong; it was forcing me back,” she said. “I did definitely say, ‘What are you doing, I don’t want to do this.’” At one point, Brand said “Oh, come on, don’t be a spoilsport”, the woman claimed. She said she recalled he was not “very well endowed; he was average sized”. The woman, who was in her 20s at the time, said she thought about fighting back, but added: “I just thought if I did this he wouldn’t try and rape me further.” Afterwards, she was left “shaking” and was banging on the door to get out, she said. “My hands were just shaking and I couldn’t get it open,” she continued. “And he [Brand] came over and unlocked the door because I couldn’t physically do it. “He opened the door and I went out and I went to the bar and he followed me to the bar and said something like ‘well I suppose we should swap numbers now’.” She added: “I don’t think he even knew my name.” In a written statement read to the jury, another partygoer said he had seen Brand come out of the locked bathroom followed by a woman, recalling that the star had been “quite rude” when he tried to say hello. The woman described “walking around in a daze” and said she cannot remember how she found herself in a car with Brand later that night, where she alleges he exposed himself again and “was looking down at his lap and smiling”. “I looked down and his penis was out in the car and he said ‘come on, come on’ and I said ‘no, no’, and he then put it away,” she said, adding that she went home shortly after they arrived at another bar. The woman said she did not report the alleged sexual assault and rape to police until 19 years later, in 2023, because it would be “my word against his” and “it was those laddish culture times”. The woman, who worked for MTV at the time, fought back tears as she told the police officer: “I just felt this shame that I had allowed him to do that to me.” Under cross-examination by Brand’s lawyer, Ian Winter KC, she told jurors that her allegation was not “influenced” by a 2023 documentary which accused the comedian of sexual misconduct. The woman insisted she “wasn’t a giddy school girl” when the celebrity arrived at the party and she had worked with famous people in the past. She told the jury she had about six drinks and was “beyond tipsy” but was still in control, adding: “I wasn’t falling over the place, slurring my words.” She denied she was “charmed” by Brand and disagreed with Mr Winter’s suggestion that she had “happily accompanied” him to the lavatory for a “bit of a kiss and cuddle”. Mr Winter told the woman: “It would have been perfectly easy for you to struggle, any number of people would have come to your rescue.” The woman replied: “I don’t agree.” Giving evidence from behind a screen, she told the jury she was “completely paralysed” and had gone into “deep shock” in the aftermath of the incident and – although she did not tell anyone the full extent of her allegations – she later told a colleague he was a “sexual predator”. Under re-examination by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC, she explained she did not tell friends her full account because she “didn’t want to face the reality of what had actually happened to me.” She said the thought of going to the police in 2004 “terrified” her, adding: “In those days, he was a celebrity and it would be his word against mine. I would be ostracised in my work environment or friends. “I just thought the odds weren’t in my favour and I didn’t want to have to go through a court where somebody is tearing down my character. “I know it’s all very different now. In those days, you just weren’t believed as a woman and it was a lad culture of ‘you were wearing this, so you were asking for it’ and all that rubbish we were told back then.” The trial continues.