Entertainmentupdated 22m ago2 min read
Jemima Goldsmith Accuses Russell Brand of Violence and Coercive Control After Rape Sentence
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Jemima Goldsmith alleges Brand violently abused her, including coercive control and police removal in 2014. She acknowledged being one of Brand's victims after his rape conviction.
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Goldsmith details 2014 incident
Jemima Goldsmith, Russell Brand’s ex-girlfriend, accused him of “violence, coercive control and abuse” and said she “had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident.” Goldsmith said she chose “not to press charges at the time” and not to go public because she was “worried about the impact of the press attention on my then teenage children.” Goldsmith told the BBC she was “in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand's trial” and said she was “glad and relieved” he had “finally faced justice.”
Brand was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of rape and sexual assault, including a conviction for raping a woman at his home in 2009 and three counts of sexual assault against three other women. A van believed to be carrying Brand arrived at HMP Wandsworth in London on Monday after the sentencing hearing.
Injunction dispute and Berki
Goldsmith addressed reports of an injunction taken out by her and Brand in October 2015 that she said banned Szilvia Berki from harassing them, including by making allegations of assault by Brand at Goldsmith's home the prior year. Goldsmith said Berki visited her house for roughly 30 minutes on 7 June 2014 to give Brand a massage, which Goldsmith said did not end up taking place once she arrived. Goldsmith said Berki later told police that Brand had pushed her in the back while she had been leaving and that she had been attacked by Goldsmith's dog, and Goldsmith said she “did not see anything untoward” during the encounter.
Goldsmith said online commentary and media reporting about the injunction had presented “an untrue narrative” and opened her up to “vile hatred and abuse online.” The injunction was granted by the high court judge and former leading counsel in the Leveson inquiry Mr Justice Jay.
Sentencing context and reactions
Brand was sentenced earlier on Monday after a sentencing hearing at which the judge told him he harboured a “casual arrogant disregard to any woman's right to say no to you.” The judge said Brand’s fame meant he believed “you could act when you liked and how you liked.” Goldsmith said she had assisted the journalists who exposed the allegations against him and said she had been willing to testify to his “abusiveness” were they sued.
Sunday Times chief news correspondent Rosamund Urwin said Goldsmith helped her “a lot,” and Urwin said she had tried to tell people “that part of the story was much more complicated than they realise.” Victim impact statements were heard at Brand’s sentencing hearing, including one woman who said she was “upset and traumatised” for years after the incident and another who said the trauma was something she had to “carry every day.”