Russell Brand Alleged Rape: Accuser Says She ‘Carried Guilt & Shame’ After Telling Fan ‘Clean Up’

Editor’s note: This article includes descriptions of alleged sexual offenses that some readers may find upsetting.

A court heard that Russell Brand allegedly told one of his accusers to “clean up the mess” after she says he sexually assaulted her anally at his north London home.

At a busy session in London’s Southwark Crown Court, jurors listened to testimony from three of the six women who have accused Brand. The prosecution played a 2024 recorded police interview with one woman, identified in court as Complainant 5 (C5) because she has lifelong anonymity. During the nearly two-hour interview, C5 frequently became tearful and distressed as she recounted the alleged encounter with Brand.

The actor known for the Despicable Me franchise faces three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault brought by six women. Brand has denied all the charges, has pleaded not guilty, and will present his defense later in the trial.

C5 told police she had been drawn to Brand’s performances and to him personally, describing him as “interesting, articulate and intelligent about things others might avoid.” She said she first met him at a comedy show in 2009 at the Hammersmith Apollo and was invited upstairs for drinks. There, she performed oral sex consensually but made it clear she did not want penetrative sex.

She said Brand took her phone number and she assumed she would never hear from him again, but he continued to message her. She later agreed to visit his home in Hampstead, north London.

C5 described being driven to Brand’s house, let in by a member of his circle, and told that “Russell’s on the phone to America.” Brand then came downstairs and, she recalled in the interview that was shown to the jury so she would not have to repeat the account in court, told her, “This is the best decision you’ve ever made.” Deadline has been covering the trial live through a closed courtroom video stream.

She said Brand’s tone shifted while they kissed on his bed, and he suddenly remarked that she needed a shower because “your hair smells funny.” She said the comment didn’t feel kind and left her feeling dirty.

Initially, C5 said the pair had consensual vaginal sex with Brand using a condom, but she told police she derived no pleasure from it. “I felt like somebody was just f**king a hole,” she said, adding that the encounter made her feel anonymous and interchangeable.

After a period of what she described as consensual sex, C5 said Brand turned her over onto her front. She assumed he intended to continue vaginal sex, but she said he inserted his fingers into her anus and then proceeded to rape her anally — an act she described as excruciatingly painful.

C5 alleged that Brand told her he wanted her to feel his ejaculate. At that point he ejaculated into her anus and, she said, had removed his condom.

She said that after he finished, Brand appeared “absolutely horrified” and told her she needed to “clean up the mess” she had made. He then left the bedroom, and an associate informed her that he had another performance to do and that she could leave whenever she felt ready.

In the police interview, C5, in tears, emphasized: “I went there knowing I would have sex with him — vaginal penetrative sex. I went there knowing that would happen. I want to make that clear because I’ve struggled to accept what happened to me because I went there knowingly and willingly.”

“He did not act like he’d done anything wrong”

She told police she informed her flatmate that evening and was in such severe pain she had to “sit on an ice cube tray.”

Medical examinations later revealed she had an anal tear, and she became convinced she had been exposed to HIV, though a test came back negative. “I wanted to just leave it all behind,” she said. “I thought maybe he does that all the time. He did not act like he’d done anything wrong.”

C5 told the court she has struggled with alcohol dependency since the incident and entered rehab in 2023, during which she disclosed what had happened. Around that time, the Channel 4 documentary Russell Brand: In Plain Sight aired, which prompted her to contact police.

“I’ve tried not thinking about it and it hasn’t worked, so whatever happens after this [police interview], I know I’ve sat in a room and said what happened to me,” she explained. “I just don’t want to die knowing that what he did to me I have not said to the right people.”

“I carried the feeling of guilt and shame”

C5 was the final one of Brand’s accusers called to give evidence and later took the stand for questioning. Prosecutors have said all of the complainants came forward after seeing the Channel 4 film, and that the women do not know one another.

During cross-examination by Brand’s lawyer Ian Winter, C5 — who gave evidence from behind a screen — said she had “carried the burden” and been weighed down by guilt and shame for years after the alleged assault.

Winters repeatedly asked whether she had consented to anal intercourse as well as vaginal sex, but C5 maintained she never agreed to anal sex.

“Just because you go somewhere willingly, that does not mean the outcome at the end is necessarily consensual,” she told the court. “I did not make the decision to have anal sex with Mr. Brand. I did not make that decision. We never had a conversation about anal sex.”

The court heard that the summer after the alleged assault, C5 encountered Brand from a distance while working at an event during the Edinburgh Festival. She said he messaged her; when she asked why he had reached out, he allegedly replied, “Because you’re dirty and I wanna push you further.” She said she responded: “I think you pushed me far enough, you treated me like an animal,” after which Brand apologized and the exchange ended.

When Winter pressed her on why she did not tell Brand at the time that he had raped her, she said that explaining that was “really difficult.”

He also questioned the extent of her admiration for Brand, suggesting she had been “obsessed” with him before their first meeting at the Hammersmith Apollo. Winter posed several lines of questioning implying she was infatuated with Brand.

“You knew he was extremely sexually active with multiple women?” Winter asked, to which she answered, “Correct.”

Winter then asked whether she knew Brand had won The Sun’s informal “Shagger of the Year” accolade for multiple years running.

“I don’t think I was aware of that,” C5 replied.

The prosecution has finished presenting evidence from Brand’s accusers, and the court is due to hear further witness testimony the next day. The court has been told repeatedly that Brand declined to answer police questions and instead provided a prepared statement in which he said he did not recall meeting the women or remembering their names, and that any sexual activity was consensual.

The trial is ongoing.