Russell Brand ‘saved rape victim’s number as T for tart’ – but he tells trial he used code for ‘all casual hook-ups’

RUSSELL Brand saved an alleged rape victim’s number as “T for tart” – but told jurors today he used the code for all “casual hook-ups”.

The comedian, 51, is accused of forcing six women into sexual acts and kissing and groping them in an “obsessive” campaign to sleep with 5,000 women.

Jurors heard one of the woman was allegedly raped by Brand after he met her at Hammersmith Apollo following a gig.

The court was told Brand saved her number with a “T” next to it, denoting the word “tart”.

Asked what he meant by that word during his evidence, he replied: “That was what I used to denote casual hook ups.”

He also put two asterisks next to the woman’s name, which he told the jury meant: “Never, ever forget this individual, this is a memorable encounter.”

Questioned on how he felt about hooking up with the woman again, Brand told the court he was “excited and enthusiastic about it”.

Asked why, he replied: “Because I was really motivated and focused towards sexual activity that was novel, interesting and, to use something more colloquial, kinky.”

Brand’s evidence started today with the comedian telling jurors about his levels of fame during the alleged offences.

He agreed in 2004 he was “moderately famous” but when he married singer Katy Perry in 2010, this became “staggering fame”.

Brand also told about the “devastating” consequences to being accused of rape and sexual misconduct by the Sunday Times, Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.

He told Southwark Crown Court his “entire life has been consumed by these allegations”.

His barrister, Ian Winter KC, asked: “Were you able to persuade a single person with relevant evidence to give to come to give evidence on your behalf?”

Brand replied: “I have not.”

The barrister continued: “Would they touch you with a barge pole?”, and Brand replied: “No.”

He also told the court he had been blocked from entering Great Ormond Street Hospital to be with his sick baby son after he had been publicly accused of rape.

“The reason given by Great Ormond Street Hospital when my son was receiving open heart surgery and subsequent treatment was due to the material published.

He said he was told “they had to bar my attendance and presence.

“They were unclear about what particular legal reason there was, but that was the reason they gave to my wife Laura and I.”

Brand also claimed consent is “fundamental, essential, necessary, and indeed in many ways more important than sex itself”.

Jurors heard Brand allegedly preyed on the complainants between 1999 and 2009 in a bid to satisfy his “voracious” sexual appetite.

One of the women was allegedly raped in a hotel room in Bournemouth in 1999 after a Labour conference.

The woman said Brand had suddenly “changed” from being “camp, friendly, and effeminate” to “monster-like”.

She told police she remembers feeling “frightened” after Brand forced her to take pictures of him on her camera.

She added: “I took pictures of him on my camera – he made me take them.

“I was frightened. I remember feeling ‘what on earth have I got myself into’ – and then he did rape me.

“He pushed me onto the bed. He did take my trousers off.”

She previously claimed he emerged topless from the toilet and “was prancing around the room, a bit like an ostrich, doing silly walks like Basil Fawlty”.

The woman later added: “I found his body quite snake-like and disgusting. It made me feel sick, if I’m being honest.”

Another alleged victim who claimed she was targeted by Brand while working at MTV in 2001 also gave evidence.

At the time he was the flagship presenter at the video music channel, jurors heard.

The woman said Brand was “pleading” for her to join him in the toilet before he “grabbed me by the arm and started to pull me in, saying ‘come on, come in with me’.”

She described Brand as a “wild-eyed maniac” during the alleged assault and said she was left “bewildered” and “confused”.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC dubbed the comedian a “sexual predator” who was “ruthless, calculated and manipulative”.

She also said women have told police he was “childlike in his expectation that his every desire should be met”.

The court heard the alleged offences took place when Brand’s “public profile was taking off”.

He allegedly prayed on women in a number of locations – including workplaces, a toilet cubicle in a bar and at his home address.

One woman who Brand allegedly raped at his home told how the comedian made her feel like a “piece of meat”.

The woman had met Brand after seeing his show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London with a friend in 2009.

He allegedly told her his age range was from “16 to death” before she was invited to a backstage bar where they kissed and had a threesome.

The woman claims she went to his home the next day where Brand told her: “Your hair smells funny”.

He then made her take a shower and wash her hair while he watched through a glass shower cubicle, it was said.

Once in the bedroom, the woman said they had consensual sex after he told her: “This is the best decision you’ve ever made, well done”.

She told the court Brand then raped her and looked “absolutely f***ing horrified” – making her think he would apologise.

But the woman added: “But actually what he said was ‘you need to clear up the mess that you’ve made’.”

The woman added: “The thing that I have really struggled with is… that what he said to me after, it really affected me because I did it… exactly what he said.

“‘Clear up the mess you’ve made’, I did it and I don’t know why.”

Another woman who was in her 20s working at a radio station in the mid-2000s when Brand allegedly sexually assaulted her also gave evidence.

She told the court Brand was a “perfect stranger” to her at the time and said his alleged assault was “violent”, “sloppy” and “frenzied”.

The woman also said she had locked eyes” with the other woman and was “pleading with her” to stop what was allegedly happening.

The sixth alleged victim worked for Channel 4 when she met Brand while he was filming a project.

She said she was informed Brand was “unhappy” and the situation would not improve unless she gave him a massage, jurors were told.

The woman claimed he walked up to a chair she was sitting on and placed his head directly into her groin area.

Brand has denied three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault and attempted indecent assault against six women.

The trial continues.