Katy Perry predicted Russell Brand's jail fate months before rape conviction
Perry told a 10,000-strong Oxfordshire crowd in July that her ex-husband "should be in jail" — four months before Brand was convicted of rape and sexual assault.
Katy Perry's "he should be in jail" remark resurfaces as Brand faces sentencing
Katy Perry made a pointed remark about her former husband Russell Brand at a live concert in July this year — four months before he was convicted of rape and sexual assault. The Daily Express reports the comment, made in front of roughly 10,000 fans at the Blenheim Palace Festival in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, has resurfaced widely on social media ahead of Brand's sentencing on Monday.
During an interactive segment of her set, Perry, 41, was projecting audience members' faces onto a giant screen and asking them to strike poses. When one fan was invited to "pose like you've just seen your ex", the pop star quipped into the microphone: "I hope my ex isn't here — he should be in jail."
Brand, 51, was found guilty last Thursday following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in London. The jury deliberated for eight and a half hours before returning verdicts of guilty on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Perry and Brand were married from 2010 to 2012. The pair first met in 2009 on the set of his film Get Him to the Greek and wed the following year in a traditional Hindu and spiritual ceremony. The marriage lasted roughly 14 months before the couple separated in 2012.
Perry kept largely out of proceedings
Jurors in the Brand trial were prevented from hearing about Perry directly. According to The Mirror, the prosecution had initially sought to reference their marriage but ultimately chose not to. In pre-trial legal submissions, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC stated: "The prosecution recognises that matters post 2009 involving his relationship with Katy Perry may be sensitive, as may his previous faiths, and we are content to remove these from the opening."
Brand's defence lawyer, Ian Winter KC, did raise Perry's name during pre-trial argument, noting that one complainant had claimed Perry may have been present during an alleged incident while Brand was working on a project for Channel 4. Winter said the complainant believed "other people were in the room and witnessed it, possibly including the defendant's future wife, Ms Katy Perry." The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed Perry was not asked to provide a witness statement during the investigation.
The sole reference to Perry within the trial itself came when Brand took the stand and mentioned their marriage in the context of a period in his life when he had achieved, in his own words, "staggering fame." Statements from two of Brand's former girlfriends were read aloud in court as part of his defence case.
Perry's earlier reflections on the marriage
Perry has spoken publicly about the relationship on several previous occasions. In a 2020 interview with 60 Minutes Australia she described it as "just like a tornado — everything happening at once." In a 2013 interview with Vogue, she said: "At first when I met him, he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they're like, 'I can't handle the equalness.' He didn't like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting."
Brand is due to be sentenced on Monday for the offences for which he was convicted at Southwark Crown Court.
Source: Daily Express