Jemima Goldsmith has accused Russell Brand of violence, coercive control and abuse during their relationship, breaking years of silence a day after a court sentenced him to 10 and a half years in prison for rape and sexual assault.
Goldsmith, 52, a film and television producer, posted a statement on social media Monday. The two dated for about a year around 2014. She said she called police that year to have Brand removed from her home during a violent incident but declined to press charges, fearing the media attention would harm her teenage children. She has not seen or spoken to him since. She said she is “glad and relieved” he has “finally faced justice.”
Brand, 51, was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women between 2004 and 2009. Jurors cleared him of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault. He cannot be considered for release until he serves two-thirds of his sentence, a minimum of seven years.
Goldsmith said recent events left her no choice but to speak. Reports and speculation about a 2015 harassment injunction involving her, Brand and a woman named Szilvia Berki, she wrote, forced her to describe painful and personal details. By her account, Berki came to her home in June 2014 to give Brand a massage, and the plan collapsed once Goldsmith arrived. Berki later alleged that Brand pushed her as she left. Goldsmith said she saw nothing untoward, and police closed the matter with no case to answer after reviewing her statement and CCTV footage.
She also claimed Berki afterwards sent threatening, antisemitic messages, and said the recent coverage of the injunction has exposed her to online abuse. Goldsmith said she had assisted journalists investigating Brand and would have testified about his alleged behaviour had they faced legal action.
