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 Already 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 orally raped her, a court was told. His third accuser claims she had just met the comedian at a birthday party in a bar in Soho and they had been speaking for 30 seconds or “one minute max” when he grabbed her breasts in the middle of their conversation in the alleged incident in July 2004. He then grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the toilet where he climbed on the toilet seat, unzipped his trousers and forced her to perform a sex act, she said 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. “It felt really out of place and that part of it really shocked me. When he dragged me inside [the toilet], I was still reeling in shock from that situation. “For him to blatantly do that in a public place with someone you’ve literally just met was a complete shock to me, I didn’t know how to process that.” In the toilet, he climbed on the closed toilet set and put his hand on the back of her head and made her perform a sex act, she said. “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 spoil sport”, 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 it, “but I was thinking if I did that I didn’t know what would happen”. “I just thought if I did this he wouldn’t try and rape me further,” she added. Afterwards, she was left “shaking” and was banging on the toilet 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.” The woman described “walking around in a daze” and said she cannot recall 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. “And he’s sort of laughing about it with a weird look on his face.” The woman said she did not report the alleged attack to police until 2023 after seeing press reporting about Brand because it would be “my word against his” and that “it was those laddish culture times”. She fought back tears as she told the police officer: “I just felt this shame that I had allowed him to do that to me.” Brand denies any wrongdoing. The trial continues.