Russell Brand trial hears former assistant describe 'insane sexual appetite'

The charges and the denial

Russell Brand, 51, faces seven charges of sexual violence: three of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault. The allegations involve six women and reach back to 1999, when Brand was 24. He denies all the charges and says the sexual encounters were consensual, adding that his accusers have since 'reimagined' them. The six women came forward to police independently of one another after Channel 4's 2023 Dispatches documentary 'Russell Brand: In Plain Sight'. The prosecution is expected to finish presenting its case in the week of 26 October 2026.

Former assistant's evidence

Helen Berger, who worked for Brand from June 2006 to February 2007, gave evidence through a statement read to Southwark Crown Court on Monday, 26 October 2026. Her May 2024 police statement, read by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC, describes the job as one of the hardest she had done. She left the role because she was 'sick of him' and burnt out. She told police she had seen Brand treat women badly, and that she once had to stop his mother and girlfriend from walking in on him having sex with someone in his dressing room. She also alleged she saw him receiving oral sex in a toilet cubicle and once found a celebrity leaving his bedroom in the morning.

Berger described Brand, then at the height of his fame, as someone who often went about in his underwear, including during an interview with Sadie Frost. She said that in the statement, as he sat motionless in the dock in a grey suit and white shirt, his former assistant's account was read to the jury. Brand's wife, Laura Gallacher, followed proceedings from the public gallery.

“Though I'd worked with celebrities before and seen a lot of people normalising bad behaviour, this was on another level.”

Work pressures and the sexual conduct claims

At the time, Brand had filming commitments for Channel 4's Big Brother, MTV and the BBC, along with a radio show, a national comedy tour, a weekly Guardian column and a book. Berger told the court that women arrived at his flat during the day and that it was clear they were there for sex. She said he often met women online and used MySpace for this, and that he never seemed happy after sex, more so depressed. She also described him joking about sex when he was under deadline, asking whether he could go and have sex now. She said she had never seen Brand do anything against the law.

“In addition to his busy work, he had an insane sexual appetite and was sleeping with people day and night.”

Earlier allegations and the trial's pace

The court heard that Brand seemed 'possessed' before he allegedly raped a woman in the lavatories of a London bar in 2004. The court has sat for 10 days over the past two weeks, and proceedings resumed on Monday, 26 October 2026. Key dates in the case, from the earliest alleged attack to the reading of the statement, are set out below.

The prosecution's case is expected to close in the week of 26 October 2026, with the defence to follow.