Russell Brand’s former assistant painted a disturbing picture of life working for the comedian during his peak fame years. Helen Berger’s witness statement revealed details about Brand’s personal habits and behavior towards women as his trial enters its third week.
Helen Berger claims Russell Brand had an ‘insane sexual appetite’
Russell Brand’s former personal assistant Helen Berger told London’s Southwark Crown Court that the comedian had an “insane sexual appetite” and was “sleeping with people day and night,” The Guardian and Deadline reported.
Berger worked for Brand from June 2006 to February 2007, when he was at the height of his fame. Brand, 51, faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women.
Berger alleged Brand “loved walking around in his underwear with no shirt on” and was “very open about what his needs were.” She told the court he “never seemed happy after sex, more so depressed.” She recalled Brand turning to Myspace to find random women to sleep with at his Camden flat.
Berger said Brand once ended his Edinburgh festival show by asking anyone with “a vagina and heartbeat” to meet him at a pub afterwards. She later found him having sex in the shower at his rented apartment. She also alleged she had to keep Brand’s mother and girlfriend away from his dressing room because he was having sex inside.
“Though I’d worked with celebrities before and seen a lot of people normalising bad behaviour, this was on another level,” Berger said. She described the job as one of the hardest she had had because Brand had “non-stop energy.” She left because she was “sick of him” and burnt out.
Berger stressed she “never witnessed Russell doing anything against the law.” She did, however, say she saw him “treat women poorly.” She recalled how he once “literally just switched off his charm and moved on to the next woman” after learning one had a boyfriend.
The court also heard from the sister of a woman who alleges Brand orally raped her at a Soho bar in 2004. The sister said the alleged victim told her Brand’s eyes “had gone completely black” during the alleged attack. Brand denies all charges, and the trial continues.
