Jemima Goldsmith accuses Russell Brand of violence and abuse during 2014 relationship
Jemima Goldsmith publicly accused ex-partner Russell Brand of violence and coercive control, hours after he was sentenced to 10.5 years for rape and sexual assault.
Goldsmith speaks out hours after Brand's rape sentencing
Jemima Goldsmith, the television producer and former girlfriend of Russell Brand, has publicly accused him of "violence, coercive control and abuse" during their relationship around 2014, according to bbc.com.
Goldsmith, 52, posted a lengthy statement on X on Monday evening, hours after Brand, 51, was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison following his conviction for rape and sexual assault.
"I had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident," she wrote, adding that she chose not to press charges at the time because she was "worried about the impact of the press attention on my then teenage children."
She said she was "in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand's trial" and was "glad and relieved" he had "finally faced justice."
Conviction and sentencing
Brand was found guilty of raping a woman at his home in 2009, as well as three counts of sexual assault against three other women. At the sentencing hearing, the judge told Brand he harboured a "casual arrogant disregard to any woman's right to say no to you" and that his fame led him to believe "you could act when you liked and how you liked."
A van believed to be carrying Brand was seen arriving at HMP Wandsworth in London following the hearing.
Goldsmith's account of the relationship
Goldsmith, the daughter of the late billionaire Sir James Goldsmith and sister of former Conservative minister Zac Goldsmith, is also the former wife of ex-Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.
In her statement, she said she had not seen nor spoken to Brand since 2014. She also said she had assisted journalists who investigated the allegations against him and had been willing to testify to his "abusiveness" had those journalists faced legal action.
"Whilst my pain in relation to this pales in comparison to what the women have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life which has had a lasting impact," she wrote.
The injunction and Szilvia Berki
Goldsmith also addressed reports of a joint injunction she and Brand obtained in October 2015 against a woman named Szilvia Berki, which banned Berki from making allegations of assault by Brand at Goldsmith's home.
Goldsmith said Berki had visited her house on 7 June 2014 for approximately 30 minutes to give Brand a massage, which she said did not take place once Berki arrived. According to Goldsmith, Berki later told police that Brand had pushed her as she was leaving and that she had been attacked by Goldsmith's dog.
Goldsmith said she "did not see anything untoward" during the encounter and that, after she provided a statement and CCTV footage, police concluded there was no case to answer.
She said Berki subsequently sent "vicious antisemitic and threatening" messages and posted "wild and untrue allegations" about her on social media. Goldsmith said she agreed to Brand's lawyer's suggestion to seek an injunction to stop the harassment, but claimed that recent media coverage of the injunction had exposed her to "vile hatred and abuse online."
Journalist corroborates Goldsmith's account
Rosamund Urwin, chief news correspondent at the Sunday Times and a journalist involved in the 2023 media investigation into Brand, told bbc.com that Goldsmith had helped her "a lot."
"I have seen the abuse she's been getting online and I did try to tell people that part of the story was much more complicated than they realise," Urwin said.
"I wish people would remember women that come forward are brave people and that is what she has done tonight — she has spoken out with immense bravery about how Russell Brand treated her," she added.
Victims speak at sentencing
Brand's sentencing hearing also heard victim impact statements from the women he had been convicted of assaulting. One said she had been "upset and traumatised" for years after the incident.
"I didn't have any respect for myself. I was thinking I was damaged goods — scared of giving off signals that could be taken the wrong way," she said.
The woman Brand was convicted of raping said the trauma was something she had to "carry every day."
Source: Google News MT