Russell Brand was accused of assaulting masseuse, Szilvia Berki, when she was hired to give him a professional massage for his birthday at the home of the comic’s former partner, Jemima Khan. However the police dropped the allegation due to insufficient evidence

A masseuse who accused Russell Brand of assaulting her after she was hired to give him an professional massage was issued with an anti-harassment order in 2014 after posting allegations online and contacting MPs.

When Thames Valley Police decided to drop the investigation, the masseuse posted allegations online and attempted to raise her complaints with an MP and the Prime Minister, leading to a hearing in the High Court. Mrs Justice Carr said Ms Berki had told police Brand had assaulted her, but Brand and Ms Khan denied all the allegations made against them and the police dropped the investigation.

Szilvia Berki was paid £500 in June 2014 by Brand’s ex-girlfriend, Jemima Khan, to give the comedian, who has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse – which he strongly denies - a massage at the heiress’ mega mansion in Oxfordshire. The Hungarian-born masseuese told a High Court hearing she was treated “like a prostitute” after Jemima arranged for Brand to have a professional massage for his birthday. However, a high court judge ordered Ms Berki not to harass the comedian and his ex, Jemima after the police dropped the investigation, saying there was no case to answer, adding the investigation was closed.

When Thames Valley Police decided to drop the investigation, the masseuse posted allegations online and attempted to raise her complaints with an MP and the Prime Minister, leading to a showdown in the High Court. Mrs Justice Carr said Ms Berki had told police Brand had assaulted her, but Brand and Ms Khan denied all the allegations made against them.

The masseuse was banned by Mrs Justice Carr under an “anti-harassment order” from contacting Brand and Ms Khan in a 2014 High Court ruling. The judge said the allegations were “wholly denied”, and Ms Berki’s “claims are on their face internally inconsistent and have enlarged over time.”

Carr said, in a written ruling, that Berki had “held herself out as a professional qualified masseuse”. The judge said Khan had arranged a professional massage from Berki as a birthday present for Brand. They had met at Khan’s home – near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire – on 7 June.

“There is a dispute as to what happened at the meeting,” she said, explaining that Brand and Khan say the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star was uneasy with Berki and did not wish to proceed with the massage. “The position was uncomfortable but not unfriendly. [Ms Berki] on the other hand alleges that she was the victim of wrongful and criminal conduct. [Brand and Khan] deny any such conduct.”

The judge said Berki’s services as a masseuse were not in the event taken up. She was driven home and paid the agreed fee. She added Brand and Khan had taken legal action claiming that Berki’s activities had caused them considerable distress.

After a year-long romance, Brand and Khan reportedly split up in 2014. During their time together, the comedian said on The Jonathan Ross Show, in which he appeared alongside Jemima’s dog: 'I really love her".

Brand was accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary on Saturday, which was made in conjunction with the Sunday Times and The Sunday Times. Before the programme aired, the actor - known as Rusty Rockets -, took to YouTube vehemently denying ‘very serious criminal allegations’, saying: “As I have written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I am being transparent about it now as well. To see that transparency metastasised into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question: is there another agenda at play?”

  • @Chickenstalker
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    English
    11 year ago

    I forsee an upcoming demand for professional chaperones to be hired to accompany dates and such activities.