Brand 'treated women poorly', says former assistant

Russell Brand's former personal assistant told a court she saw women being mistreated by the comedian and quit working for him when she was "sick of him".

Helen Berger worked closely with Mr Brand from June 2006 to February 2007, when he worked on MTV, Channel 4 and BBC as wrote a book and performed stand-up to sell-out crowds.

She told Southwark Crown Court that Mr Brand found random women online to satisfy his "insane sexual appetite", but sex often made him depressed.

In a statement to Mr Brand’s rape and sexual assault trial, Ms Burger said she saw him "treat women poorly" and accused those close to him of "normalising bad behaviour".

She said in a statement read to the court: "Though I’ve worked with a lot of celebrities before and seen a lot of people normalising bad behaviour, this was on another level."

She said: "Normalising and dismissing Russell’s behaviour made me think, 'this is just the way it is here'".

Ms Berger said Mr Brand had "an insane sexual appetite and was sleeping with people day and night".

She recalled the comedian "getting antsy" when they were on deadlines, joking: "May I go and have sex now?"

Ms Berger said Mr Brand once conducted an interview with actress Sadie Frost while dressed only in his pants and an open robe.

"When I went to Russell’s flat, he was always in his underwear, he loved walking around in his underwear with no shirt on," she said.

In relation to the encounter with Ms Frost, she said: "He did the whole interview in his underwear, no shirt and an open robe."

'He was like a peacock'

Ms Berger told the court she worked for Mr Brand through his agent, John Noel, and would often be called on to go to the comedian’s flat in Camden, north London.

She said: "I worked a lot and was exhausted, emotional and it was a lot to deal with.

"I always had to manage my emotions around him.

"He had an insane sexual appetite and was sleeping with people day and night.

"He was very open about what his needs were, we didn’t have a specific conversation about it."

Ms Berger said part of her job was to review Mr Brand’s press coverage, including interviews where he had talked openly about his sexual encounters and desires.

"He never seemed happy after sex, more so depressed," she said.

She told the court Mr Brand used MySpace to find women for sex, and said: "At his house, women often came over and it was clear they were there for sex."

She remembers once finding a female celebrity asleep in Mr Brand’s bed while he was wandering around the house half-dressed, and said of the comedian: "He was like a peacock, women would always approach him."

Ms Berger said she was instructed to get phone numbers for Mr Brand from female fans when she first started working with him.

But she said she "felt uncomfortable" and after seeking advice, she told Mr Brand that she would not do that anymore.

Ms Berger also recalled seeing Mr Brand dismiss a woman he was chatting to at a party as soon as he realised she was in a relationship.

She said: "He turned in a way that really startled me.

"He literally switched off his charm and moved on to the next woman."

Ending her statement, Ms Berger said she quit the job after nine months when she was "sick of him and feeling burned out".

Mr Brand is accused of three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one charge of indecent assault.

He denies all the charges.

Mr Justice Bennathan told jurors that the prosecution case has nearly finished and they will start to hear the defence case tomorrow at lunchtime.

The trial continues.