Russell Brand Rape Trial: Channel 4 Film Was Not “Magic Force” That Caused Accusers To “Recast” Memories, Court Hears In Closing Arguments

Editor’s note: This story contains details of alleged sexual offenses that some readers may find distressing.

Channel 4’s 2023 exposé on Russell Brand was not a “magic force” that caused six separate women to “recast” their memories and accuse the Despicable Me star of rape and sexual assault, a court has heard.

Riel Karmy-Jones, the prosecution barrister, presented her closing arguments to the jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court, where Brand is on trial over three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one of attempted indecent assault. Deadline has been reporting daily on the trial from a live video feed of the courtroom.

Karmy-Jones began her closing remarks by reminding the jury that the six women behind the seven charges are “wholly unconnected” insofar as they “do not know each other and have never met.” She continued: “Six women who have nothing to gain, who have not sought the limelight, who have not taken part in documentaries, who have not made claims for compensation … There is no benefit to them.”

Karmy-Jones said Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, the 2023 Channel 4 documentary, and reporting by The Times of London, had caused the women — who have a lifelong right to anonymity — to come forward and tell stories about their encounters with Brand that had “haunted them for years.”

Karmy-Jones rejected Brand’s defense that the documentary was “evil and untrue” and “caused them to recast what actually happened.” She asked: “Could a documentary or Times article have such sway over perfectly rational women? Could a documentary cause them to completely reinvent what happened?”

Karmy-Jones argued there was no “magic force” and “woo-woo” in the film. Instead, she said the “women have realized they are not alone and have bravely come before you to tell the truth.”

“They have vivid recollections of what took place,” the prosecution lawyer said, and “were not moved from their accounts” under cross-examination from defense barrister Ian Winter. In contrast, Karmy-Jones said Brand remembers very little of the women and manipulated his account after reading the prosecution’s case.

In legal directions to the jury earlier on Friday, Mr Justice Bennathan, the judge presiding over the trial, told the jury to disregard the Channel 4 documentary when coming to their decision. “Do not think that a few women making anonymous complaints in a TV show adds any support at all to the prosecution,” he said. “The defendant denied the allegations [in the documentary] in robust, detailed terms. They were never tested in any court.”

Bennathan said the jury must reach unanimous verdicts on each of the charges to convict Brand. He reminded jurors that the burden of proof is on the prosecution and that Brand is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Bennathan expects the jury to begin verdict deliberations next Tuesday, November 3.