Helen Berger, who worked for Brand from June 2006 to February 2007 when the TV personality was at the height of his fame, gave evidence through a police statement read to the court by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC. Berger said the job was one of the hardest she had had because Brand had “non-stop energy” and she left because she was “sick of him” and burnt out.
Berger described Brand as always walking around in his underwear, including during an interview with Sadie Frost. She alleged she once had to stop Brand’s mother and girlfriend from walking in on him having sex in his dressing room, and overheard him receiving oral sex in a women’s toilet. She recalled that when Brand was headlining the Edinburgh festival, he ended his show by inviting anyone with “a vagina and heartbeat” to meet him at a pub afterwards, and she later found him having sex in a shower.
“I never witnessed Russell doing anything against the law,” Berger said in her statement, “but I did see Russell treat women poorly.” She recalled an incident where Brand turned abruptly after a woman mentioned having a boyfriend, describing him switching off his charm and moving on.
The court also heard from a manager of a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Brand while working at Channel 4 in 2009. The manager said the alleged victim told her that Brand’s associates had told her she had to give Brand a massage or he would not continue the day’s recording. The manager recalled being told that the men “watched and laughed while Mr Brand sexually assaulted her right in front of them”.
Additionally, the sister of a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted and orally raped by Brand at a Soho bar in 2004 told the court she was “upset and almost in shock” the next morning. The sister said the alleged victim described Brand’s eyes as having “gone completely black” during the assault. The trial continues.