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Russell Brand asked assistant for female fan phone numbers, court hears
· Confirmed
In Short: A former personal assistant of Russell Brand testified in court that he instructed her to get phone numbers from female fans.
A former personal assistant of Russell Brand testified in court that he instructed her to get phone numbers from female fans, describing a work environment where Brand would often ask her if he could 'go and have sex now' when frustrated with a task.
Helen Berger, who worked closely with Brand from June 2006 to February 2007, said the request 'felt uncomfortable' and, after seeking advice, she told the entertainer that she would not do it anymore.
Berger testified that Brand had a 'non-stop energy' and was sleeping with women 'day and night,' according to The Independent. She described Brand as a 'peacock' who women would approach, and she recalled once finding a female celebrity asleep in Brand's bed while he was wandering around the house half-dressed.
Berger also recalled seeing Brand dismiss a woman he was chatting to at a party as soon as he realized she was in a relationship. She said Brand used MySpace to find women for sex and that women often came over to his house for sexual encounters.
Berger said Brand's bad behavior was 'on another level' and that she quit working for him after nine months when she was 'sick of him and feeling burned out.' She described Brand as having 'non-stop energy' and it being 'a lot to deal with' as she helped him manage a busy workload at the height of his fame.
The allegations, made by six female complainants, span a 10-year period between 1999 and 2009. Brand, 51, is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of indecent assault.
Berger said Brand's eyes had gone 'completely blank' during an alleged attack, adding: 'It was like he had been possessed or had been a completely different person.'
Berger's testimony is part of a trial that is due to finish on Tuesday morning.
What this adds
The former personal assistant's testimony adds details about Russell Brand's alleged sexual misconduct and the work environment she experienced while working for him.
Background
The Constitutional Court in Georgia's coastal city of Batumi began hearings Wednesday on a lawsuit by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five major opposition parties, according to Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Civil Georgia (Georgia).
What's confirmed
- A former personal assistant of Russell Brand has told a court she was instructed to get phone numbers for the entertainer from female fans when she first started working with him.
- Helen Berger, who worked closely with Brand from June 2006 to February 2007, said the request "felt uncomfortable" and, after seeking advice, she told the TV personality that she would not do that anymore.
- Brand, 51, is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one charge of indecent assault.
- The prosecution is due to finish on Tuesday morning.
- She recalled once finding a female celebrity asleep in Brand's bed while he was wandering around the house half-dressed, and said of the comedian: "He was like a peacock, women would always approach him."
- She told the court that "peacock" Brand found random women online to satisfy his "insane sexual appetite and was sleeping with people day and night", but sex often made him depressed. She told the court Brand used MySpace to find women for sex, and said: "At his house, women often came over and it was clear they were there for sex."
- Russell Brand’s former personal assistant told a court she saw women being mistreated by the comedian and quit working for him when she was “sick of him”.
- Ms Berger also recalled seeing Brand dismiss a woman he was chatting to at a party as soon as he realised she was in a relationship.
- “He never seemed happy after sex, more so depressed”, she observed.
- In a statement to Brand’s rape and sexual assault trial, Ms Burger said she saw him “treat women poorly”, and accused those close to him of “normalising bad behaviour”.
- Ending her statement, Ms Berger said she quit the job after nine months when she was “sick of him and feeling burned out”.
What's still developing
- The witness statement, which came from one of the complainant’s Channel 4 colleagues, said she was told that two of Brand’s associates ordered her to give him the massage several times, otherwise he would not record a radio advert.
- Once, the PA was told not to take Brand’s mum or girlfriend to his dressing room as he was having sex and “didn’t want them to see,” she alleged.
- Ms Berger said Brand once conducted an interview with actress Sadie Frost while dressed only in his pants and an open robe.
- Ms Berger told the court she worked for Brand through his agent, John Noel, and would often be called on to go to the comedian’s flat in Camden, north London.
- The assistant said the star had “non-stop energy” and it was “a lot to deal with” as she helped him manage a busy workload at the height of his fame, including a national comedy tour, TV shows, a BBC radio show, a Guardian column and writing a book, as well as press and media engagements.
- “When I went to Russell’s flat he was always in his underwear as he loved walking around in his underwear with no shirt on,” she said in a statement read to Southwark Crown Court by junior prosecution counsel Suki Dhadda.
- “Russell would end his show in Edinburgh, ‘If you have a vagina and a heartbeat, I will be in this pub afterwards,’” she said.
- “I asked whether she’d had a good night out and she said no, Russell Brand had pulled her into a toilet, locked the door and tried to assault her,” the court heard.