Russell Brand was described in court as a “ruthless and manipulative” predator who mocked women when they resisted his sexual demands.
Mr Brand, 51, is accused of forcing women into sexual acts and kissing and groping them as part of an “obsessive” pursuit to sleep with 5,000 women.
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Southwark Crown Court heard on Wednesday that one alleged victim says Mr Brand later apologised for treating her “like an animal”. Another claims he told her, “don’t be a spoilsport”, after she refused to consent.
Several accusers allege that Mr Brand laughed after they tried to push him away, while members of his entourage are accused of standing by without intervening.
Mr Brand denies three charges of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one allegation of indecent assault. Six women have accused him over incidents said to have taken place between 1999 and 2009.
He has pleaded not guilty and maintains that all sexual contact was consensual. His defence is expected to argue that the women have “reimagined” their encounters with him after reading media reports about alleged sexual misconduct.
Opening the prosecution case, Ms Karmy-Jones said Mr Brand’s appetite for sex was “indiscriminate and voracious”. She said he relied on humour, charm and flattery while pursuing what she described as his overriding sexual desire.
“Uppermost in his mind was his insatiable desire to get what he wanted with whomever he wanted it from,” she told the jury.
One woman, who met Mr Brand at the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, alleges that he raped her in a hotel room after stripping naked and performing Basil Fawlty-style walks resembling an ostrich.
The woman had met Mr Brand at a cabaret show and initially believed he was gay, the court heard. In the hotel room, however, she alleges that he forced her on to the bed and raped her.
After the alleged attack, he “behaved as if nothing had happened”, Ms Karmy-Jones said.
Giving evidence on Wednesday afternoon, Mark Pinheiro, a former friend of Mr Brand, told jurors that he remembered the comedian “cowering” in the back of a car after hearing police sirens as they left Bournemouth.
Russell Brand with his wife Laura Brand arriving at Southwark Crown Court this morning
Mr Pinheiro said Mr Brand did not return home that night and appeared “flustered” and anxious to leave the following morning.
He later recalled Mr Brand speaking about sex with a woman and saying: “I think I may have gone a bit too far.”
A former MTV employee alleges that Mr Brand tried to pull her into a toilet cubicle in the early 2000s after she complimented his “I Am Spartacus” T-shirt.
A woman who worked at a radio station says Mr Brand “sniggered” after kissing and groping her while members of his entourage watched.
She alleges the incident took place at the station in the mid-2000s, when Mr Brand pushed her against a wall in what she described as a “fast and frenzied” sexual assault.
Ms Karmy-Jones said the woman looked towards members of Mr Brand’s entourage “hoping they would intervene”, but nobody came to her aid.
“Mr Brand stumbled backwards at that final push and just sniggered – like it was a joke,” she said.
“Perhaps he found their protestations amusing, funny?” the prosecutor asked.
“Funny as a display for his friends.
“The other men who were with him also joined in the laughter.”
Another woman, who alleges that Mr Brand groped her breasts in a Soho bar in 2004, said she saw a “big, weird grin” on his face afterwards.
She claims he then dragged her into a toilet and raped her, ignoring her objections while saying: “come on, don’t be a spoilsport, you want to”.
A woman who alleges that Mr Brand raped her at his Hampstead home told police she encountered him again the following year and later received an apology by text.
She had consensual sex with Mr Brand after meeting him at a stand-up performance at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2009, but alleges that the comedian subsequently raped her.
When she saw him again in Scotland the next year, she claims Mr Brand called her “dirty” and said: “I wanna push you further.”
She says she responded: “I think you pushed me far enough – you treated me like an animal,” to which Mr Brand allegedly replied: “I’m sorry.”
The sixth alleged victim, a Channel 4 worker, has accused Mr Brand of sexually assaulting her while he was filming a project in 2009.
She said he was initially “friendly and nice” during the shoot but later became irritated. Members of his entourage then allegedly suggested that she give him a massage.
Although she says she objected, the woman claims she was pressured into doing so before Mr Brand placed his head directly in the area of her groin.
Mr Pinheiro told the court that, when he first met Mr Brand, the comedian “boasted” about wanting to sleep with 5,000 women and offered advice on “pulling girls”.
He also recalled attending a preview of Mr Brand’s 2013 comedy show Messiah Complex, where he saw women lined up against a wall.
“Russell would be networking, schmoozing, talking with various people backstage,” he said.
“There would be a moment he would break away from the networking, walk along the queue of girls, and ask a girl to come out and join him.
“The girl would join him and go off to a quiet area of the theatre, usually the toilet, and we wouldn’t see them for about 10 minutes.
“When he returned, he returned back to the schmoozing, time passed, and he returned to the queue, walked along the queue, picked another girl from the queue and repeat the same thing, go off to somewhere quiet.”
Mr Brand listened intently from the dock as the prosecution delivered its opening statement and as Mr Pinheiro gave evidence.
Jurors have been instructed not to research Mr Brand or read previous reports concerning allegations of sexual misconduct, all of which he strongly denies.
The trial continues.
