Former PA Describes Russell Brand's 'Insane' Sexual Appetite in Trial Testimony

Helen Berger told Southwark Crown Court on Monday that her former employer, Russell Brand, possessed an 'insane sexual appetite' that was routinely accepted by the people around him. The former personal assistant, who worked with the comedian from June 2006 to February 2007, provided a detailed account of how Brand’s conduct was treated as standard during the height of his career.

Berger, speaking through a statement read by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC, said the job was exhausting due to Brand's 'non-stop energy.' She stated that she left the position because she was 'sick of him' and burned out. 'Though I’d worked with celebrities before and seen a lot of people normalising bad behaviour, this was on another level,' she said. 'I think everyone else normalising and dismissing Russell’s behaviour made me think, I guess, this is just the way it is.'

The witness described a workplace where Brand frequently wore only his underwear and no shirt. She recalled that model Sadie Frost came to interview him in his home, and Brand conducted the entire session in his underwear, shirtless, and in an open robe. At the time, Brand was juggling commitments for Channel 4’s Big Brother, MTV, the BBC, a radio show, a national comedy tour, a weekly Guardian column, and a book deal.

Berger alleged that Brand used the website Myspace to find women for sexual encounters. She said women, including one unnamed celebrity, were often at his Camden flat for these liaisons. 'He was like a peacock, women always approached him,' she said. She also described a moment during an MTV show recording where Brand asked her to collect phone numbers from women, a request she said made her feel uncomfortable.

The court heard that Berger often had to act as a buffer for Brand’s family and partner. She said she stopped his mother and girlfriend from walking into his dressing room while he was having sex. On another occasion, she claimed to have overheard him receiving oral sex in a women’s toilet cubicle, identifying him by the sound of his voice and the creak of his trademark cowboy boots.

During a headline set at the Edinburgh festival, Brand asked anyone with 'a vagina and heartbeat' to meet him at a pub after his show. Berger said many women attended, and she later found him having sex in the shower at his rented apartment. She noted that while she never saw him commit a crime, she did see him treat women poorly. She described an instance where he was 'hitting on' a woman who had a boyfriend; when she revealed this, Brand 'switched off his charm' and moved to the next woman.

The trial also heard from the manager of a woman who alleges Brand sexually assaulted her at Channel 4 in 2009. The manager said the victim told her that Brand’s associates, Jack Bayles and Gareth Roy, told her she had to give Brand a massage or he would not continue with the day’s recording. The manager recalled that Bayles and Roy 'watched and laughed while Mr Brand sexually assaulted her right in front of them.'

Another witness, the sister of a woman alleging she was assaulted and orally raped at a Soho bar in 2004, told the court the victim was 'upset and almost in shock' the next morning. In 2023, the victim called her sister in tears to recount the 'full story.' The sister said the victim was 'struggling to catch her breath' and claimed Brand’s eyes had gone 'completely black,' describing him as 'possessed' or 'a completely different person.'

Brand, 51, sits in the dock in a grey suit and white shirt. He faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault, and one of indecent assault against six women, with allegations spanning from 1999 to 2009. He denies all charges. The trial continues.