Russell Brand's Ex Reveals Why She Stayed Silent For A Decade After Cops Showed Up
Jemima Goldsmith says she called police to have Russell Brand removed from her Oxfordshire home during a violent incident in 2014 — then stayed silent for twelve years, afraid press coverage would drag her teenage children into the story. She spoke out days after his rape conviction.
Case at a glance
- Russell Brand — Comedian, convicted on assault charges involving four women, convicted
- Jemima Goldsmith — Television producer, Russell Brand's ex-girlfriend, victim
Next: The Metropolitan Police have not set a timetable for deciding whether to charge Brand over the two additional rape allegations still under assessment, including the one involving a woman who was 16 when she dated Brand. Brand remains in custody serving his ten-year, six-month sentence, and no court date tied to Goldsmith's 2014 account has been reported.
The call Thames Valley Police answered in 2014
On July 25, 2014, a woman called police from a house in Oxfordshire to report that her partner had assaulted her, according to Sky News. Thames Valley Police officers went to the home, spoke with her and offered support.
They made sure her partner left the property "as per the victim's wishes," the department said. No one was arrested that day.
That woman has now named herself. Jemima Goldsmith wrote on X that she "had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident," according to Yahoo. The BBC confirmed this week that the responding force was Thames Valley Police, matching her account.
Why she says she waited twelve years to speak
Goldsmith, 52, is a British screenwriter and producer whose credits include "American Crime Story" and "The Voice of Hind Rajab." She and Brand dated for about a year in 2014, and she says she experienced "violence, coercive control and abuse" during that relationship, according to the Los Angeles Times.
She never filed charges. She says she held back because she feared "the impact of the press attention on my then teenage children," the Times reported.
She says she has not seen or spoken to Brand since the relationship ended, and that the fear has never fully faded. "Whilst my pain in relation to this pales in comparison to what the women have testified in court have suffered, this was a difficult period in my life which has had a lasting impact," she wrote, per the Los Angeles Times.
"I am glad and relieved that Russell Brand has finally faced justice," she added.
"I had to call the police to have him removed from my house in 2014 during a violent incident," — Jemima Goldsmith, per Yahoo
The rape and sexual assault conviction that preceded her account
Goldsmith went public days after a London jury convicted Brand, 51, of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women. Jurors acquitted him of two further rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault.
A jury of eight men and four women reached that split verdict after roughly eight and a half hours of deliberation at Southwark Crown Court, CNN reported. NPR described the trial as running four weeks; CNN put it at three.
The rape conviction centered on a 21-year-old woman Brand met at a 2009 show at the Hammersmith Apollo; prosecutors said he anally raped her at his home days later. The sexual assault convictions involved an MTV employee groped at a bar in 2004, a woman kissed and groped at her workplace in 2005, and a woman assaulted in 2009 while giving him a massage at a TV studio.
On Monday, Judge Justice Bennathan sentenced Brand to 10 years and six months in prison. He said Brand had become "a sexual predator" and praised "the determination and bravery" of the women who testified, according to NPR.
None of this is connected to Goldsmith's account. She was not a witness in the criminal trial, and Brand faces no charge tied to the 2014 incident at her home.
Police, prosecutors and Brand's camp respond
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said after the verdict: "As his profile grew, so too did his sense of entitlement. I hope this conviction sends a clear message that no one is above the law, no matter how famous or powerful they may be," per CNN.
Crown Prosecution Service lawyer David Roberts told reporters outside court the evidence showed Brand "to be a calculated sexual predator, using his growing fame and power to create situations in which he could pursue women sexually regardless of what they wanted," CNN reported.
Brand has denied all the charges and told the court he never had non-consensual sex. His attorney, Ian Winter, argued he is "a fundamentally different person" from who he was when the offenses occurred, NPR reported.
Brand's father, Ron, said after sentencing that his son is the real victim, not the women who accused him, according to The Conversation. Brand's wife, Laura Gallacher, attended the trial and sentencing in support of him.
Two more rape allegations still under review
The Metropolitan Police say they are continuing to investigate two further rape allegations against Brand beyond the four women in the trial. One stems from a woman who, according to pretrial hearings cited by the Press Association, dated Brand when she was 16 and he was 30.
"Several people have contacted the investigation team during and since the trial to provide information or report a potential criminal allegation," the Met told the Los Angeles Times. "Detectives are assessing this information as part of their ongoing enquiries."
Goldsmith's statement also revived scrutiny of a 2014 harassment injunction she and Brand jointly obtained against a massage therapist who had accused Brand of physical assault that same year. Police determined then that "there was no case to answer and that no criminal offence had been committed," Goldsmith said, per the Los Angeles Times.
Goldsmith said that woman instead ran a "campaign of vicious antisemitic and threatening abuse online and in emails" against her and her family. The coverage reviewed does not include a response from the woman.
What happens next
The Metropolitan Police have not set a timetable for deciding whether to charge Brand over the two additional rape allegations still under assessment, including the one involving a woman who was 16 when she dated Brand. Brand remains in custody serving his ten-year, six-month sentence, and no court date tied to Goldsmith's 2014 account has been reported.
How this plays in court
A prosecutor looking at the 2014 Oxfordshire call sees a familiar pattern: police responded, removed the aggressor at the victim's request, and the victim declined to press charges. That contemporaneous police report has value if it ever surfaces in a future case — it corroborates the timing and the request to have Brand removed, even though no arrest followed.
The defense will note that Goldsmith's public account arrived only after Brand's conviction, with no formal complaint ever filed, no cross-examination and no charge brought — and will argue it shouldn't be treated as evidence of anything beyond what she says she personally experienced.
The two rape allegations the Met is still assessing face a harder road. Historic allegations are difficult to corroborate years later, and the one involving a 16-year-old and a 30-year-old Brand will turn on exactly what evidence exists beyond the two people directly involved.
If charges are ever filed, prosecutors could try to introduce the pattern from the four convicted counts as evidence of a broader pattern of conduct — but any jury would still have to weigh a new allegation on its own facts, separate from what was proven at Southwark Crown Court.
- Yahoo: Russell Brand's Ex Reveals Why She Stayed Silent For A Decade After Cops Showed Up
- NPR: British comedian Russell Brand sentenced to over 10 years for rape and sexual assault
- CNN: Actor and comedian Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assault
- Los Angeles Times: Russell Brand faces fresh allegations, police investigation in wake of rape conviction
- The Conversation: Media ultimately exposed Russell Brand – but his fame and celebrity added to victims’ trauma