Pop Star Katy Perry Called Convicted Rapist Russell Brand 'Very Controlling' Years Before His Arrest

Katy Perry's 2013 account of a 'very controlling' dynamic in her marriage to Russell Brand has resurfaced. Brand received a sentence of 10 years and six months at Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday, 9 November 2026. His sentence followed convictions for rape and three sexual assaults involving four women.

Perry and Brand married in October 2010 and separated in December 2011, after 14 months. In a 2013 Vogue interview, Perry discussed tensions over her touring career and said she initially felt responsible for the breakdown. Her account concerned their marriage and did not allege the offences for which Brand was later convicted.

Katy Perry's 2013 Account of Her Marriage

In the interview, Perry said she had been in love with Brand when they married. She acknowledged that her touring schedule kept her away but said she had repeatedly invited him to join her and returned home whenever possible.

Perry said Brand disliked 'the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour'. She added: 'So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.'

She also said she initially felt responsible for the marriage ending, before discovering what she called the 'real truth'. Perry did not explain what she meant, saying she was keeping it 'locked in my safe for a rainy day'. The interview does not establish that the remark referred to criminal conduct, and it should not be treated as evidence about the later case.

Perry told Vogue that Brand had texted her on 31 December 2011 to say he was divorcing her. She said she had not heard from him since, as of the 2013 interview.

Katy Perry's Later Remark and Russell Brand's Sentence

At Blenheim Palace Festival in Oxfordshire on 1 July 2026, Perry took part in an audience game about reacting to seeing an ex. She said: 'I hope my ex isn't here. He should be in jail.' BANG Showbiz reported the remark as referring to Brand, but she did not name him in the quote. It came more than four months before the jury's verdict on 5 November.

After a four-week trial, a jury found Brand guilty on 5 November of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The offences involved four women and took place between 2004 and 2009. It acquitted him of two further rape charges and one charge of attempted indecent assault. Brand denied the charges during the trial.

At sentencing, Mr Justice Bennathan imposed nine years for rape and terms of 18 months, nine months and eight months for the sexual assaults. The three assault sentences run concurrently with one another. They run consecutively to the nine-year rape term, producing a total of 10 years and six months.

Brand must serve two-thirds of the term before release on licence and will remain subject to sex-offender notification requirements indefinitely. The judge said women retain the right to refuse sexual contact and seek justice. That right applies regardless of what they wear, where they go or what they drink.

The offences for which Brand was convicted predated his marriage to Perry: the jury found they took place between 2004 and 2009, while the couple married in 2010. Perry's Vogue interview appeared in 2013, after their separation. Her account describes her experience of the relationship and is separate from the evidence considered by the jury at Brand's trial.