The door on Russell Brand's large, black van had barely begun to slide open outside London's Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday when the questions started.
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questions → begin → Wednesday
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing.
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readers → contain → details
It has been 18 months since the British entertainer was first charged with multiple sex offences.
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entertainer → charge → offences
Here, his trial was less than an hour away from beginning.
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trial → begin → ?
With the global media spotlight on him (more than 100 journalists have applied for access to the proceedings and a cavalcade of podcasters and YouTubers want in too), Mr Brand cut a composed figure in front of the press pens set up to keep some kind of order.
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Brand → apply → order
"I'll just get Laura out, won't be a sec," the 51-year-old told one reporter, who'd asked him how he was feeling.
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he → get → him
After helping his wife of nine years, Laura Gallacher, exit the vehicle, Mr Brand moved towards the ABC's camera and said: "Today, I feel blessed."
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I → help → camera
"I feel, of course, concerned.
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I → feel → course
But hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everybody involved.
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process → lead → everybody
That's my prayer," he added, before thanking the journalist for being so "polite" and being ushered inside by his personal security guard.
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he → add → guard
It is a drab 1980s building, with terracotta-coloured carpet, harsh lighting, dated chairs, and lots of black-and-yellow sticky tape holding things together—such as the microphones in court and signs telling you who sits where.
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who → colour → you
The world-famous actor and comedian appeared calm, almost zen-like, as he sat in the dock and the prosecution began unfolding its case against him.
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prosecution → appear → him
Central to this trial are six women whom the media are not allowed to identify.
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media → allow → whom
Mr Brand is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault relating to these women over a 10-year period from 1999.
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Brand → accuse → 1999
He has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges and has previously told police that either he didn't remember the incidents or he never engaged in any non-consensual sex.
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he → plead → sex
This week, the jury was told Mr Brand's accusers had all come forward separately and do not know each other.
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accusers → tell → other
Crown Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC told the court in her opening statement that while the women's allegations were "different", the jury "may hear behaviour by Brand that echoes" between them.
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that → tell → them
Mr Brand sat silently in the dock as the prosecutor explained graphic details about his alleged crimes to the jury and described him as a "ruthless, calculated and manipulative sexual predator".
"
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prosecutor → sit → predator
To the defendant, women were simply a means to an end," Ms Karmy-Jones said.
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Jones → say → end
Mr Brand's wife, who was sitting off to the side of the dock, kept a straight face as allegation after allegation was read out.
At first, she couldn't see her husband from her seat in the public gallery, but court staff moved her to a seat closer to the glassed-off area and left the dock door open so they could see each other.
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they → sit → other
She did not return for day two.
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She → return → day
First accuser tells court: 'I thought Brand was gay'
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Brand → tell → court
The court heard from multiple prosecution witnesses this week, including a former colleague and housemate of Mr Brand's who claimed the entertainer had told him he wanted to have sex with "5,000 girls".
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he → hear → girls
The trial is expected to last at least six weeks and while the defence will not lay its case out until later, Mr Brand's barrister Ian Winter KC has already made it clear to the court it is his client's position that the accusers have "re-imagined" things.
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accusers → expect → things
On Thursday, the entire day's evidence focused on Mr Brand's earliest accuser in the case, who was given the pseudonym Ms A.
Mr Brand did not react in the dock as the jury watched a video of Ms A's police interview, filmed in September 2023.
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jury → focus → September
She alleges he raped her after they met on the sidelines of the Labour Party Conference in the coastal resort town of Bournemouth in 1999.
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they → allege → 1999
He was not yet famous, but was performing in a cabaret show and the pair got chatting afterwards.
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pair → perform → show
"I thought he was a gay man," she said in the video.
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she → think → video
"He was very softly spoken, very effeminate, I felt sexually safe with him."
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I → speak → him
When the show's venue closed, the court heard, Ms A invited him back to her hotel to keep the conversation going.
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A → close → conversation
She claims that when she came out of the bathroom Mr Brand was "prancing around like an ostrich" and telling her to take his photo (the jury was shown two of those photos, which show the entertainer with his shirt off).
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which → claim → shirt
In the video played to the court, Ms A said Mr Brand then pushed her on to the hotel room's bed.
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Brand → play → bed
"I know he raped me, I know he was touching me, I know he grabbed my breast, I know he tried to kiss me," she told the detective conducting the interview.
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she → know → interview
"He was messing around with his tongue, it was horrible, it was lizard-like."
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it → mess → tongue
Later Thursday, she gave in-person evidence from behind protective screens in court.
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she → give → court
In both instances she went into graphic detail about Mr Brand's alleged assault and became emotional when Mr Winter accused her of "falling under Brand's spell" and later regretting it, not being raped.
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Winter → go → it
The witness accused Mr Brand's barrister of "trying to put words in my mouth".
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witness → accuse → mouth
In one lengthy back-and-forth, they argued about the definition of "flirting".
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they → argue → flirting
There was confusion in court when Mr Winter asked Ms A about why she had not asked Mr Brand to "stop" during the alleged rape.
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she → be → rape
Ms A replied that she had, in fact, asked him to stop and pointed out she had told police that in her video-taped interview which was played to the jury earlier.
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which → reply → jury
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
