Russell Brand’s fate is now in the hands of a jury after weeks of testimony in his rape trial.
Brand and his wife, Laura Gallacher, held hands as they arrived at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Nov. 4 for the second day of jury deliberations.
The 51-year-old actor and comedian is facing charges of rape, attempted indecent assault and sexual assault involving six women between 1999 and 2009. One woman told the court Brand appeared “monster-like” before allegedly raping her in a hotel room. Another said he groped her breasts with a “maniacal grin” before dragging her into a bathroom, where she alleges he orally raped her.
Other allegations in the case include Brand requring a massage from an employee, then pressing his face toward her groin, as well as pushing another woman against a wall and kissing her “sloppily”at a radio station, according to ITV News.
Brand has pleaded not guilty and maintains that the alleged encounters were consensual. Under guidance from the UK’s Sentencing Council, a rape conviction carries an offense range of four to 19 years in prison. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
Inside the Closing Arguments in Russell Brand’s Rape Trial
Prosecutors and defense attorneys offered sharply different interpretations of the allegations during two days of closing arguments.
“Six women who have nothing to gain, who have not sought the limelight, who have not looked out for some form of publicity, who have not taken part in a documentary, not made claims for compensation,” prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones told jurors Oct. 30, according to The Guardian. “There is no benefit to them, apart from perhaps some closure by coming before you and telling you their accounts of what happened to them so long ago.”
Karmy-Jones rejected the defense argument that the women’s accounts had been shaped by the 2023 documentary “Russell Brand: In Plain Sight,” according to ITV News. The program featured separate sexual assault allegations against Brand. Karmy-Jones argued that it did not exert a “magic force” that confused or altered the accusers’ memories.
Referring to one woman’s testimony, Karmy-Jones asked, “Is that woman some sort of lunatic who would make this story up, reimagine this event after watching a documentary?”
The alleged assaults had “haunted them for years,” Karmy-Jones told the jury. She described Brand’s behavior by saying, “His eyes changed, he snapped, from charming to frightening to nasty.”
Karmy-Jones said the women gave a consistent account that Brand “didn’t listen when [they] said no, he didn’t stop, he didn’t care—pulling, pushing, tugging, thrusting.”
“In the rape cases,” she said, “he kept on going until he achieved his ultimate aim.”
Karmy-Jones also alleged that Brand gave some accusers his contact information as a form of “gaslighting” and described it as “a technique the defendant used to good effect.”
In his closing remarks on Nov. 2, defense attorney Ian Winter challenged that argument, saying Brand had simply been willing to share his email address with one accuser.
“Rapists do not leave their address,” Winter said, according to Sky News. “He left photos she ‘d taken of him, rapists do not leave their photographs; and he kissed her goodbye, or tried to, when he left.”
MUST READ: California Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Prop. 44 Clinic Spending Mandate
Winter argued there was “no evidence [Brand] is some kind of psychopath who rapes people and thinks it’s normal.” He added, “The fact he behaved normally during and after all of those rapes tells you what you need to know. He believed they were all consenting.”
Discussing one woman’s testimony, Winter said, “She didn’t roll over, or kick out, or try to stop him in any way.”
He also said the documentary had “poisoned the well of justice,” arguing, “None of them came forward at the time. They did so after.”
Winter characterized Brand’s sexual appetite as a means of seeking approval and adoration.
“Living a highly promiscuous life is entirely lawful,” he said, “however morally distasteful you may find it.”
Russell Brand and Wife Laura Gallacher Testify in Rape Trial
Brand testified on Oct. 28 that he could not remember some of the alleged incidents, but said the encounters he did recall were consensual, according to ITV News.
“Consent is more important than sex itself,” Brand told the court, acknowledging that he should not have used his fame to “facilitate sexual access.”
“As I became more successful and famous, I was very comfortable allowing that to facilitate sexual access,” Brand said, “which I agree with you was wrong.”
“I do recognize I have been a very determined and focused man,” he said. “With women, of course, which is the subject of my trial, I’ve been persuasive, seductive, begging and flirting, and dedicated a lot of my life to what seems now beyond reckless philandering, and idiocy.”
Gallacher testified the following day, describing Brand as a “wonderful father,” according to ITV News. She said their marriage was loving, despite Brand’s infidelity during their courtship in 2006 and 2007.
“I wasn’t interested in having a relationship with him if he was sleeping with other people,” Gallacher testified. “I was invested, we both had told each other we loved each other, but it was clear it was difficult for him to be monogamous.”
The couple later split, and Brand married Katy Perry in 2010. Brand and Gallacher reunited in 2015, three years after his divorce from Perry was finalized, and married in 2017.
“We have a very honest, frank, and clear relationship and marriage,” Gallacher said. “It is one of the most important parts of our marriage, and our relationship has always been honest.”
The jury ended its second day of deliberations without reaching a verdict, according to Sky News.
“I think that’s enough for the day,” Judge Joel Bennathan told jurors. “You must stop deliberating about the case, even amongst yourselves.” The trial is scheduled to resume on Nov. 5.