Russell Brand's former PA testifies about his 'insane sexual appetite'

Russell Brand's former personal assistant has told a court he had an "insane sexual appetite".

The comedian and author faces three charges of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women, in allegations spanning 10 years from 1999. He denies all charges.

Helen Berger worked for Brand from June 2006 to February 2007, when he was at the height of his fame. She shared that the job was one of the hardest she had had because Brand had "non-stop energy", and she left because she was burnt out.

"Though I'd worked with celebrities before and seen a lot of people normalising bad behaviour, this was on another level," Berger said in a May 2024 witness statement to police, which was read out in court by prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones KC.

At the time, Brand had filming commitments for Channel 4's Big Brother as well as MTV and the BBC, a radio show, a national comedy tour, a weekly Guardian column, and was writing a book.

"In addition to his busy work, he had an insane sexual appetite and was sleeping with people day and night. He was very open about what his needs were," Berger revealed in the statement.

"He never seemed happy after sex, more so depressed," Berger alleged. "There were times when I was at his house and he would be on a deadline, and he would get antsy and joke with me, 'May I go and have sex now?'"

"I never witnessed Russell doing anything against the law," she said, before adding, "I did see Russell treat women poorly."