An actor who claims the actor and comedian Russell Brand sexually assaulted her while on the film set of the 2011 comedy Arthur says she felt “used and abused” by him.
The woman, who has not been named, states in a lawsuit filed in New York state on Friday that Brand first exposed himself to her in full view of some of the cast and crew of Arthur, which was filmed in New York City.
She further alleges that later the same day Brand entered the lavatories she was in and assaulted her “as a member of the production crew guarded the door from outside”.
“I felt used and abused,” she told the Sunday Times. “Disgusting is the only word. I felt like I was being used, that I was just an object for his momentary titillation.”
The woman claimed there was a serious power imbalance in film-making, particularly between stars and those with smaller parts or extras. “Everyone usually turns a blind eye to bad behaviour on a set,” she said.
“If I had come forward and said something to, say, even a production assistant on the set, what are they going to do? Are they going to fire Russell Brand or are they going to fire me?”
The legal case follows a series of allegations against the 48-year-old performer by several women who have accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour, claims that in some cases date back 20 years.
Brand has denied accusations made by four women in an investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, and said his relationships were always consensual. He has yet to respond to the New York lawsuit.
Warner Bros Pictures, which distributed Arthur, has also been named as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with other companies involved in the film’s production. They are accused of negligence and of aiding and abetting Brand by tolerating his misconduct on the set.
The lawsuit alleges that Brand was drunk during the making of the film and exposed his genitalia to the woman as he sat at a table staring at her, “openly and obviously in the presence of everyone on set”, including film studio employees who treated his behaviour as acceptable.
The woman says that Brand followed her into a toilet, where he again pulled down his trousers, then shoved her into a stall and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
