Witness says Brand's behavior was routine in his orbit

Helen Berger, a former personal assistant to Russell Brand, testified on Monday that the comedian's sexual behavior was treated as a standard part of his work life by those around him. Speaking to Southwark Crown Court, Berger described an environment where questionable conduct was frequently dismissed by colleagues who expected the worst from the high-profile figure. She stated that the normalization of his actions made it difficult for her to question what was happening in his presence during their time working together.

Berger worked for Brand from June 2006 to February 2007, a period she described as one of her most difficult professional experiences due to his relentless energy. She said she eventually left the job because she was burnt out and simply tired of the situation. In a police statement provided in May 2024, Berger noted that while she had worked with other celebrities who exhibited poor behavior, Brand's conduct was on a different scale. She recalled that he was often seen in his underwear without a shirt, including during an interview with Sadie Frost at his home.

The court heard that Brand was juggling multiple high-profile commitments at the time, including hosting Channel 4's Big Brother, appearing on MTV and the BBC, doing a national comedy tour, writing a weekly column for The Guardian, and working on a book. Despite this heavy schedule, Berger alleged that Brand maintained what she called an insane sexual appetite, engaging in sexual activity day and night. She said he was very open about his needs and often asked her if he could go have sex while he was working on a deadline. She described him as being depressed or unhappy after sex rather than content.

Berger recounted specific incidents where she had to manage the people around Brand to protect his privacy or facilitate his encounters. She said she once had to prevent Brand's mother and girlfriend from walking in on him having sex in a dressing room. On another occasion, she claimed to have overheard him receiving oral sex in a toilet cubicle, identifying him by the sound of his voice and the distinctive sound of his cowboy boots in the adjacent stall. She also noted that Brand would use the website Myspace to find women for sexual encounters, with several women, including an unnamed celebrity, frequently staying at his apartment in Camden, north London.

During his run at the Edinburgh festival, Berger said Brand ended a show by inviting anyone with a vagina and a heartbeat to meet him at a pub afterward. She stated that many women showed up and that she later found him having sex in the shower of the apartment he was renting. Although she said she never witnessed him doing anything illegal, she admitted to seeing him treat women poorly. She recalled an instance where he was hitting on a woman who had a boyfriend, and when he turned away, his charm seemed to switch off abruptly as he moved to the next woman.

The trial also heard from the manager of a woman who alleged Brand sexually assaulted her at Channel 4 in 2009. The manager said the alleged victim told her that Brand's associates Jack Bayles and Gareth Roy told her she had to give Brand a massage or the day's recording would not continue. The manager recalled being told that both men watched and laughed while the assault happened in front of them. A sister of another alleged victim, who said Brand assaulted and orally raped her at a Soho bar in 2004, told the court she was in shock when her sister called her in 2023 to describe the event. The sister recalled her relative struggling to catch her breath and describing Brand's eyes as going completely black.

Brand faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault, and one charge of indecent assault related to six women over a 10-year period starting in 1999. He denies all the charges. The trial continues.