Russell Brand is a ruthless 'sexual predator' who raped victims while pursuing a 'goal' of bedding 5,000 women, court hears

Russell Brand is a ruthless 'sexual predator' with a 'voracious' appetite who raped victims while pursuing a 'goal' of bedding 5,000 women, a court has heard.

The comedian and actor was described as a 'calculated and manipulative' rapist who spent a decade assaulting women, treating them as a 'means to an end' to satisfy his 'insatiable desire'.

Brand, 51, stands accused of exploiting his fame to carry out three counts of rape, three sexual assaults and one charge of indecent assault against six women between 1999 and 2009. He denies all the charges.

The opening of the extraordinary celebrity trial at London's Southwark Crown Court heard that the 'child-like' TV star 'lured in' women with his comedy antics, charming victims before pouncing 'like an animal'.

Obsessed with sex, the now-married father-of-three allegedly bragged to friends he was an 'expert pick-up artist', a 'womaniser' and a 'ladies' man', insisting, 'All you have to do is tell them what they need to hear', jurors were told.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC said Brand sniggered at women, telling them not to be a 'spoilsport' if they refused his advances.

She told jurors: 'The defendant was not deterred. His desire for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious.

'He could be nice when he wanted to be, funny, undoubtedly charming, likeable even when he wanted something in return.

Russell Brand and wife Laura Gallacher at London's Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday 

A court sketch of the 51-year-old comedian and Hollywood actor in court on Wednesday

In court, Brand was on Wednesday described as a 'calculated and manipulative' rapist

'But then demanding, entitled, a flirt with a huge sexual appetite, child-like in his expectation that his every desire should be met.

'He was ruthless, calculated and manipulative, and, the prosecution say, a sexual predator.'

The court heard that as Brand's acting career took off and he became a Hollywood movie star, he was able to commit sex attacks in plain sight, with a complaint by one woman ignored by TV executives.

Described by friends as 'rampant in his desire to score sex', he had an 'insatiable desire to get what he wanted, with whomever he wanted it with', treating women 'as if they were nothing', jurors heard.

Brand is accused of carrying out his first attack in 1999 on a woman attending the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.

He is alleged to have 'lured' the victim to a hotel room after they met at a show where he was performing. She was shocked to find the defendant had partially undressed and was 'prancing around the room doing silly walks, like [Fawlty Towers'] Basil Fawlty', it was said.

Brand told the alleged victim, 'It's OK, it's just how I am, don't worry,' before asking her to take photographs of him, the court heard. Ms Karmy-Jones said Brand pushed the woman on to the bed and raped her.

Afterwards, Brand is alleged to have made excuses for how quick things had been before claiming he had to get back to his mother, leaving the victim crying in shock.

Brand, pictured outside court on Wednesday, has been charged with three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault 

Brand's former friend Mark Pinheiro told jurors that the comedian had rushed to leave when he arrived back at the flat they were sharing, 'cowering' in the back seat of a car when he heard police sirens on their journey.

Later, the defendant allegedly told Mr Pinheiro: 'I think I may have gone a bit too far.'

Two years later, a 'desperate, wild-eyed' Brand is accused of trying to drag an MTV worker into a toilet cubicle. In 2004 he is alleged to have orally raped a woman at a bar after groping her within minutes of them meeting.

The former Big Brother presenter is accused of carrying out a fourth attack on a woman at a radio station around 2004.

The court heard he grabbed the victim in her 20s, pushed her up against a wall and kissed her 'sloppily and aggressively', grabbing the woman's breasts and buttocks during a 'rough, fast and frenzied' assault. When he was pushed off, Brand sniggered 'like it was a joke', jurors heard.

The prosecutor said: 'These women meant nothing to him.'

A fifth victim met Brand backstage following a gig in 2009 after he allegedly told the audience: 'You probably can have sex with me... My age range is from 16 to death.'

The starstruck fan said she was selected to take part in a 'threesome' from a queue of women.

The following day, the 21-year-old was invited to the home of Brand, who was then 33. He allegedly anally raped her, shoving her face into a pillow as she begged him to stop.

The traumatised woman later received an apology by text after she told Brand: 'You treated me like an animal', the court heard. The final alleged victim, a Channel 4 employee, claims she was sexually assaulted in 2009 after being told by his entourage to give Brand a massage.

Mr Pinheiro told jurors that Brand had 'boasted' of wanting to sleep with 5,000 women.

During a preview of Brand's 2013 comedy show, Messiah Complex, Brand allegedly told him: 'What you are about to see is some real rock n' roll s***.' 

The star is then said to have selected from girls lined up against a wall, taking each one to the toilets for ten minutes.

The prosecutor said: 'His MO [modus operandi] was varied. Sometimes he might tell women what they wanted to hear, sometimes he might have appeared interested in their cause, sometimes he might even have made sexual advances within minutes of meeting them, but every time he had identified his target, he was intent on trying to fulfil his sexual desire.' 

One friend, Andrew Dobson, said simply: 'Women and sex were a goal and an obsession.'

The alleged victims came forward in 2023 after claims of sexual misconduct were reported by The Times and in a Channel 4 documentary.

During interviews, Brand told police that all his sexual contact was consensual. He said he could not recall his accusers and claimed they had 'reimagined' the encounters.

Brand sat in the dock dressed in a black suit and showed no emotion as the details of the charges were read out.

The trial continues and is expected to last up to eight weeks.

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