Jemima Goldsmith accuses Russell Brand of violence and coercive control
Brand's ex-girlfriend Jemima Goldsmith has alleged violence and abuse during their 2014 relationship, days after he was sentenced to 10½ years for rape.
Goldsmith breaks silence after Brand convicted of rape and sexual assault
Jemima Goldsmith, the former girlfriend of Russell Brand, has publicly accused him of "violence, coercive control and abuse" during their relationship around 2014, bbc.co.uk reports.
Goldsmith, 52, said she "had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident" but chose not to press charges, citing concern for her then-teenage children and the potential impact of press attention on them.
Her statement came on Monday evening — the same day Brand, 51, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of rape and sexual assault at Southwark Crown Court following a four-week trial.
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 between 2004 and 2009. He was found not guilty of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
The sentencing judge told Brand he had 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."
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Goldsmith, a TV producer and the former wife of ex-Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, wrote on X: "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 said she had been "in awe of the courageous women who came forward at Brand's trial" and was "glad and relieved" he had "finally faced justice."
Goldsmith stated she had not seen nor spoken to Brand since 2014. She also said she had assisted journalists who exposed the allegations against him and had been willing to testify to his "abusiveness" had they faced legal action.
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Her statement also addressed a 2015 injunction she and Brand jointly sought against a woman named Szilvia Berki, banning her from making allegations of assault by Brand at Goldsmith's home.
Goldsmith explained that Berki had visited her house for approximately 30 minutes on 7 June 2014 to give Brand a massage, which she said did not take place once Berki arrived. Berki subsequently told police that Brand had pushed her in the back as she was leaving and that she had been attacked by Goldsmith's dog.
Goldsmith said she "did not see anything untoward" during the visit, and that after police reviewed her statement and CCTV footage, they concluded there was no case to answer.
She said Berki then sent "vicious antisemitic and threatening" messages and posted "wild and untrue allegations" about her on social media. The injunction was then sought on the suggestion of Brand's lawyer. Goldsmith claimed on Monday that recent media coverage of the injunction had exposed her to "vile hatred and abuse online."
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Rosamund Urwin, chief news correspondent at the Sunday Times and a journalist involved in a media investigation into Brand in 2023, told the BBC 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. She added: "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."
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Victim impact statements were read at Brand's sentencing hearing. One of the women he was convicted of assaulting said she had been "upset and traumatised" for years, stating: "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."
The woman he was found guilty of raping said the trauma was something she had to "carry every day."
A van believed to be carrying Brand was seen arriving at HMP Wandsworth in London following the hearing.
Under sentencing guidelines, offenders jailed for four years or more for serious violent or sexual offences are released at the two-thirds point of their sentence. In Brand's case that would equate to seven years. Upon release he is expected to spend the remainder of his sentence on licence, subject to conditions including wearing a tag.
Source: The Sun