The actor and comedian was standing tall in the witness box with his hands clasped behind his back. He was wearing a dark navy suit with his curly hair resting on his shoulders.
Brand also claimed in court that he was told he could not stay with his son at Great Ormond Street hospital in London when the child was having open heart surgery, following the documentary and a newspaper investigation.
He told the court: “Due to material that had been published in the public eye they had to bar my attendance and presence.
“They were unclear about what legal reason there was but that was the reason they gave to my wife Laura and I.”
Brand told the court: “My entire life has been consumed by these allegations,” adding that he had “devoted myself to these matters”.
Winter asked Brand if he recalled meeting the first complainant, who alleges he raped her at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999.
Brand said yes, explaining that he found her “loquacious” and “interesting”.
When asked if there was any truth in the allegations that he raped her, he said: “No.”
Under cross examination, the prosecution suggested Brand “just didn’t care whether she was interested in having sex with you or not”. Brand rejected that, saying he did care “very much”.
Asked whether he was sure he “didn’t think no means yes”, he replied: “I know what no means.”
Brand was then asked about another woman, who alleges that the entertainer grabbed her breasts before dragging her into a toilet and raping her.
Brand said he recalled been invited to a party in London at a bar in 2004, and said a friend had introduced him to the complainant by saying “something like ‘there’s a bird here who really wants to meet you mate’.”
When asked if he remembered what he said to her upon meeting, he told the court: “I would have said something like, ‘You’re really, really beautiful’.”
The barrister asked whether he had grabbed her breasts. “Absolutely not,” Brand replied.
When questioned if he would have behaved in the way that had been alleged, he said it would have amounted to “disgusting behaviour”.
“I was increasingly focused on my promiscuity,” he said. “That’s not the way I would have behaved because it’s not only criminal but vulgar.”
Brand said he remembered going into the toilet with her but said “no” when asked if he had dragged or forced her there.
“Did your penis enter her mouth at all whilst in the cubicle?” Winter asked. “No,” said Brand.
