Russell Brand old pal testifies against him in rape trial: Everything we know

Russell Brand’s trial for rape has officially begun.

As Mark Pinheiro was called on as a witness he recalled befriending Brand as he went to the home of a writer in 1999, the Daily Mail reported.

Brand “boasted” on the journey to the 1999 Labour Party conference that he wanted to sleep with 5,000 women, his former friend told the court.

Mr Pinheiro said he and Brand were performing in a cabaret show together at the conference fringe, and as they travelled they talked in the back of the car about “meeting girls, pulling girls, picking up girls.”

“He hoped that one day he would have been able to have slept with over 5,000 girls, that was his target. He began boasting about certain strategies he would employ in his endeavour to meet women and pull women,” Pinheiro added of Brand.

Pinheiro also detailed how Brand had some “memorable” techniques for sleeping with women.

“One would have been: ‘all you need to do is tell the woman what they need to hear and that's all you really need to do to get a successful pull,’” the old friend recalled.

Questioned on what was classed as “successful”, Pinheiro answered, “To be able to sleep with the person.”

He added that Brand's aim was to “never leave a situation without having some kind of conquest, always trying to score in every endeavor.”

Everything we know about Russell Brand’s rape trial:

Prosecutors have outlined allegations made by six different women against Russell Brand. Here are the allegations by each woman as told by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC:

The Labour conference 'rape':

Prosecutors allege Brand stripped half-naked and performed silly walks “like Basil Fawlty” before raping a woman he met at the Labour Party conference.

The court heard the woman initially thought Brand was gay, and invited him to her hotel room to continue their conversation after a cabaret show on the fringes of the conference in 1999.

She alleges he emerged topless from the toilet and “was prancing around the room, a bit like an ostrich, doing silly walks like Basil Fawlty.”

The court heard Mark Pinheiro says Brand returned to his entourage's flat after allegedly raping the woman, telling them to “pack up their stuff” because they “had to leave town immediately.”

The ‘Desperate’ Toilet Encounter:

The second complainant worked at MTV at the time of the alleged incident in 2001 when an alleged indecent assault took place.

While showing Brand where the toilets were he allegedly said to her “come in, go on, come in” and grabbed her hard by her forearm, prosecutors say.

He beckoned her into the toilets with a “desperate wild-eyed look on his face” the court was told.

The MTV worker was left feeling 'bewildered and shocked' by the alleged assault by Brand, the court was told.

The ‘weird’ assault while talking about ‘Big Brother’:

One alleged victim said Brand ‘lunged” at her and grabbed her breasts when they were talking about Big Brother in a Soho bar in July 2004.

Prosecutors allege the comedian had a “big, weird grin” on his face as he allegedly assaulted her. The woman says Brand “quite strongly” pulled her into the toilet and orally raped her, despite her saying “I don't want to do this.”

The prosecutor told jurors, “He just said 'Oh come on don't be a spoil sport, you want to' or something along those lines.”

The ‘sloppy, aggressive’ assault:

The fourth alleged victim was in her 20s and working at a radio station in 2004 or 2005 when Brand allegedly sexually assaulted her after she had left a room while at work.

Brand, who the court heard was with a woman and some men at the time, allegedly “grabbed her by the face with both hands” before pushing her against a wall where he is said to have kissed her “sloppily and aggressively.”

The court heard the complainant was left feeling “dirty and disgusting” and in “complete disbelief that not one of the people with Mr Brand had tried to help her or to stop it.”

Treated “like an animal”:

Brand apologised to one of his alleged victims after she told him he treated her “like an animal” during an alleged rape, the court was told.

The court heard she had a threesome with Brand backstage at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, then had consensual sex with the star at his home in Hampstead.

She alleges Brand then raped her at his home, looked “horrified” afterwards, and then allegedly forced her to “clean up the mess.”

During a chance encounter in Scotland, the woman said she messaged Brand, “Why are you even messaging me?” and he texted back, “'Because you're dirty, and I wanna push you further.” The court heard she says she replied: 'I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal,” and she says Brand replied, “I'm sorry.”

The ‘incredibly uncomfortable’ inappropriate misconduct:

The final alleged victim, a Channel 4 worker, accuses Brand of sexual assault as he was filming for a project in 2009. The woman was informed Brand was 'unhappy' and the situation would not improve unless she gave him a massage, the court heard.

Brand then allegedly walked up to a chair the woman was sitting on and placed his head directly into her groin area. The defendant said 'come on then, do it', leaving the woman feeling “startled and incredibly uncomfortable” the court was told.

Metropolitan Police and prosecutors began investigating Russell Brand in September 2023 after multiple women came forward with accusations of rape, indecent assault, and sexual assault.