Former Assistant Describes Brand’s Conduct as Rape Trial Begins

WHO:

The Hollywood Reporter - Russell Brand is a comedian and presenter, also known for *St Trinian’s* and *Forgetting Sarah Marshall*. He denies all charges against him.

The Hollywood Reporter - Six women allege seven offenses involving Brand. Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones presented the claims; defense lawyer Ian Winter cross-examined the women.

The Hollywood Reporter - Helen Berger, Brand’s former personal assistant, gave a statement read to the court. She also worked for his former talent agency.

The Hollywood Reporter - The article identifies Sadie Frost as an actress whom Brand interviewed while wearing an open robe and no top.

TMZ - A woman accusing Brand of rape reportedly told her sister that Brand seemed “like a man possessed.”

WHAT:

The Hollywood Reporter - Brand faces three counts of rape, three charges of sexual assault, and one allegation of indecent assault.

The Hollywood Reporter - Berger described working for Brand as “one of the hardest jobs I ever did,” called him “non-stop,” and said he had an “insane sexual appetite.” She said he was “sleeping with people day and night” and “never seemed happy after sex,” often appearing “depressed.”

The Hollywood Reporter - Berger said Brand walked around his flat without a shirt and once interviewed Sadie Frost wearing an open robe and no top. She said women visited for sex, Brand met women online, and women approached him after comedy gigs.

The Hollywood Reporter - Berger said Brand asked her to obtain women’s phone numbers. She also recalled being told not to take Brand’s mother and then-girlfriend to the green room because he was having sex with another woman, and seeing him receive oral sex in an adjacent toilet cubicle.

The Hollywood Reporter - Berger said she had never witnessed Brand do anything unlawful and nobody had disclosed unlawful conduct to her. She said she quit because she was “sick of him and burned out” and had seen women mistreated.

TMZ - Testimony in the trial described the alleged rape of a woman inside a London bar.

WHERE:

The Hollywood Reporter - Proceedings are being held at Southwark Crown Court in London. The allegations include incidents in a Bournemouth hotel room, a Soho bar, Brand’s Hampstead home, a flat, and a toilet.

WHEN:

The Hollywood Reporter - The alleged offenses date from 1999 to 2009. One woman alleges rape in Bournemouth in 1999; another alleges oral rape in a Soho bar in 2004; a third alleges anal rape at Brand’s Hampstead home in 2009.

The Hollywood Reporter - Berger worked for Brand between June 2006 and February 2007, then for his former talent agency until December 2007.

The Hollywood Reporter - The trial could last up to six weeks.

HOW:

The Hollywood Reporter - The reported allegations also include Brand putting his face in a co-worker’s crotch and exposing himself while traveling in a car with a complainant.

The Hollywood Reporter - Berger said Brand used websites such as Myspace to meet women and jokingly asked her on deadlines, “Can I go and have sex now?”

(UPDATED October 26, 2026 22:12 UTC)

Comedian and presenter Russell Brand denies three rape counts, three sexual assault charges and one indecent assault allegation, as six women describe seven alleged offenses at his trial in London’s Southwark Crown Court. A former personal assistant told the court Brand pursued sex with women he met online and after comedy shows, but said she never witnessed him do anything unlawful; she also described seeing women mistreated and said she quit feeling burned out. The alleged offenses date from 1999 to 2009 and include claims of rape in a Bournemouth hotel and at Brand’s Hampstead home, and oral rape in a Soho bar.