A 2010 interview with Kristen Bell has resurfaced amid rape, sexual assault and abuse allegations against Russell Brand.
While starring together in the 2008 movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bell, 43, was sure to let Brand, 48, know where their relationship – or lack thereof – stood behind the scenes.
“I made it really clear from the beginning that I would sock him in the balls if he tried anything,” she said to the Daily Mail at the time. “So he was intimidated, truth be told.”
In the romantic comedy, Bell played the character Sarah Marshall, and Brand was her on-screen love interest. The movie, penned by Jason Segel, also starred Mila Kunis and Paul Rudd.
Bell went on to reveal that she “loved” working alongside Brand. “I may be the only woman in the world who would shout that from the rooftops, but I did,” she said at the time.
She spoke about their dynamic several times while promoting the flick. In a separate interview with the Scottish Daily Record in 2010, Bell also talked about warning her co-star to keep his hands to himself.
“He didn’t try to mess with me or get in my pants,” she said. “He knew I would lop his nuts off.”
Brand has recently made headlines for denying criminal allegations about his past after being accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
“I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company [and] one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks,” Brand said in a September 15, video posted via X (formerly Twitter). “As well as some pretty stupid stuff, like my community festival should be stopped, that I shouldn’t be able to attack mainstream media narratives on this channel, but amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”
Amid the allegations against Brand, other past comments have resurfaced. In a 2013 interview with Vogue, Brand’s ex-wife, Katy Perry, hinted she knew the “real truth.”
“At first when I met him he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they’re like, I can’t handle the equalness,” she said at the time. “He didn’t like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So, that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.”
She continued: “I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can’t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day. I let go and I was like: This isn’t because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that.”
