Brand, 51, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. The charges involve six women and alleged crimes between 1999 and 2009.

Prosecutor Riel Carmy-Jones told jurors at Southwark Crown Court in London that the six women, who did not know each other, were attacked by Brand in “a hotel room, a workplace, a toilet cubicle in a bar and at his home address.”

He said that at the time Brand had an “indiscriminate and intense” desire for sexual contact, and “women were merely a means to an end.”

The prosecutor said Brand could be witty and charming, “a flirt with a voracious sexual appetite – with a childlike expectation that his every wish should be fulfilled.”

“He was ruthless, he was calculating, he was manipulative. And, prosecutors say, he was a sexual predator,” Carmi-Jones said.

Brand listened attentively from the dock as the prosecutor described each alleged incident, including the initial incident in which Brand allegedly raped a woman in a hotel room during the Labor Party annual conference in 1999. Brand, who was an up-and-coming stand-up comedian at the time, was performing in a cabaret on the fringes of the convention in the English coastal town of Bournemouth.

Two years later, another woman alleged, Brand tried to drag her into the men’s bathroom at the office building where she worked.

“There can be little doubt as to what Mr. Brand’s intentions were,” Carmack-Jones said.

A third woman alleges that Brand orally raped her in the restroom of a London bar in 2004 and that he told her to “don’t be ugly” when she asked him to stop.

The prosecutor said other complainants include a woman who says Brand kissed and touched her at a London radio station in 2004 or 2005, making her feel “dirty and disgusting”; And a then-21-year-old fan says Brand raped her at his home after meeting her at one of Brand’s shows in 2009.

She said the following year she exchanged text messages with Brand and told him: “You treated me like an animal.” He replied: “I’m sorry.”

The final complainant says that during the recording of a commercial in 2009, Brand demanded a massage and pressed his face into her groin.

Carmi-Jones told the jury that none of the alleged victims reported the alleged attacks at the time due to guilt, shame and worry that they would be convicted. He said he personally went to the police after anonymous claims against the brand were broadcast on a 2023 television program.

The prosecutor said jurors would hear from the women later in the trial, and “I have no doubt that you will find their evidence fascinating.”

The first witness to give evidence was Brand’s former friend Mark Pinheiro, who accompanied him on a trip to Bournemouth in 1999. She said that the day after the alleged rape, Brand suddenly left her town and she seemed “incredibly alert and incredibly frightened”.

Pinheiro said, “Whenever police sirens went by the car, Russell would hide behind the side window so he could not be seen.”

The brand’s attorney, Ian Winter, questioned Pinheiro’s recollection of events more than a quarter century ago.

The brand denies all allegations. In police interview, he denied ever engaging in non-consensual sexual activity. The trial is expected to last for 10 weeks.

Brand is on bail and appeared in court on Wednesday in front of a crowd of photographers and video journalists. He said he felt “blessed”.

“I have concerns, of course, but remain hopeful that this process will lead to good outcomes for everyone involved,” Brand said. “That is my prayer.”

Known for risque stand-up routines and fighting drugs and alcohol, Brand rose to prominence in the early 2000s by hosting television programs and his own BBC radio show. He appeared in Hollywood films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek” and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.

In recent years he has moved away from mainstream media, relocating to Florida and building a large online following with videos mixing discussions of wellness, conspiracy theories and his religious devotion.

The Associated Press does not name victims of alleged sexual violence, and British law protects their identities from the media throughout their lives.

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