Russell Brand takes the stand at his rape trial and claims a hospital barred him from seeing his sick baby son
Russell Brand, 51, who told police across four interviews that rape and sexual assault allegations against him stemmed from consensual encounters "invented or reimagined" by accusers.
Russell Brand, 51, took the stand at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday as the first witness in his own defence, denying all seven charges of rape, sexual assault and attempted indecent assault against him. Brand told the jury his "entire life has been consumed" by allegations spanning six women between 1999 and 2009, and revealed not a single friend or former colleague agreed to give evidence on his behalf.
'Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary — and in many ways more important than sex itself,' Brand told jurors.
Brand claims Great Ormond Street Hospital barred him from his baby son's bedside during open heart surgery because of the rape allegations.
His fame became 'staggering' after he married Katy Perry in 2010 — the period when prosecutors say he 'obsessively' targeted women.
