Russell Brand was remanded in custody after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault today, giving no reaction other than to close his eyes when he learned his fate in court.
The comedian and actor was described as “predatory” by a senior crown prosecutor following today’s verdict after he was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault but not guilty on three other counts.
As the verdict is returned over the allegations made against Brand, 51, we take a look back at a life spent in the spotlight since his teenage years – from his drug addiction and TV fame to finding religion.
His early life
In his 2007 memoir, Brand claimed his dad Ronald paid for him to lose his virginity to a sex worker when he was just 17-years-old. He said it happened during a trip to Hong Kong during his teenage years.
“The episode that defined my relationship with women occurred in Hong Kong with my dad. I was 17. On day one we went to some sleazy dive. Before long I was sat on a bar stool with a Filipino called Mary-Lou. Then we were leaving in a cab with three Asian prostitutes my dad was drunkenly herding,” he wrote.
“Back in the hotel, my dad set about unwrapping his two prostitutes. I sat on the edge of the other twin bed. She must have known I was a virgin as soon as the bungling encounter commenced.”
Bond with his mum
Brand’s mother Barbara – who split from Ron when Brand was just six months old – was the one to raise the actor. At just eight years old, Brand’s mum was diagnosed with uterine cancer and breast cancer.
During that time, Brand was cared by for other members of his family. He recalled in 2017 how his mother was undergoing therapy and fighting cancer for a sixth time but didn’t specify what cancer it was.
In 2018, Brand’s mother was involved in a serous car accident on her way to his home to babysit his daughter. She suffered a broken back, broken neck and broke eight ribs.
He said on Loose Women at the time: “She’s done amazing. She had this terrible car crash. The geezer in the other motor legged it. She had a broken back, broken neck, eight ribs, she’s made an incredible recovery.”
Drug addiction
Brand has been open about his drug addiction over the years, and in his biography, he wrote about how he had tried every drug possible. He spoke openly about his use of cocaine, crack, marijuana, LSD and heroin.
“Ever since the first couple of times I’d smoked it, in my early 20s, I had always maintained a great interest in heroin,” he said in his My Booky Wook autobiography. “I’d sort of fallen in love with the warmth of it – the way it felt like crawling back into the womb.”
Comedy career
Brand’s initial taste of fame was in stand-up comedy, where he performed at the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year final in 2000. Whilst he didn’t win, his appearance grabbed enough attention and four years later, he took his one-man show to Edinburgh Festival titled Better Now, which documented his heroin addiction.
He returned to Fringe the year after and also embarked on a nationwide tour, using the coverage about him in the press as fodder for his act. Various tours and appearances continued, including one in front of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Royal Variety Show in the mid-00s, and he started touring not only the UK but across the United States and Australia too.
MTV and Big Brother
In the early 2000s, he presented as a video journalist on MTV UK and also hosted Dancefloor Chart and Select. He was dismissed several days after coming into work dressed as Osama Bin Laden following the 11 September attacks in 2001.
In 2004, Brand hosted Big Brother’s Eforum – later known as Big Brother’s Big Mouth, which was a sister show to Big Brother. It featured celebrity guests and the public, who would comment on what happened inside the house. “The three years I’ve spent on Big Brother’s Big Mouth have been an unprecedented joy,” he said at the time of his exit.
He went on to make an appearance on E4 show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack in January 2008 and also made a return to MTV in the late 2000s, including hosting the 2008 and 2009 MTV Music Video Awards.
Hollywood stardom
Brand had some acting gigs in his teenage years but his Hollywood career came in 2008 when he starred in the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall alongside Kristen Bell. He also starred in Get Him to the Greek with Jonah Hill and voiced Dr Nefario in Despicable Me and the subsequent Minions movies.
He also voiced the lead character in the CGI movie Hop, which impressed at the US box office. He went on a hiatus from acting following the release of 2013 film Paradise.
‘Sachsgate scandal’
Brand and fellow presenter Jonathan Ross caused enormous controversy in 2008 when they broadcast lewd answerphone messages left for veteran actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter.
The prerecorded show sparked uproar with Brand and the controller of Radio 2 resigning from the station and Ross being suspended from broadcasting for three months.
Ofcom fined the BBC £150,000 over the calls to Sachs – famous for playing Manuel in Fawlty Towers – describing them as “gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning”.
Marrying Katy Perry
Brand married Katy Perry in 2010, a year after they met at the MTV Video Music Awards. The pair tied the knot at the Aman-e-Khas luxury resort in India, the same country where he proposed just a year before.
Following the marriage and their inevitable split, Brand confessed he “didn’t handle that marriage very well” and “in retrospect” could “see what the problem was”. In his book, he said he was married to the idea of celebrity and whilst he loved the singer, he felt he was also in love with the attention the relationship gave them.
Finding religion
Brand converted to Christianity in April 2024 after previously practicing Buddhism and was famously baptised in the River Thames. “As meaning deteriorates in the modern world, as our value systems and institutions crumble, all of us become increasingly aware that there is this eerily familiar awakening and beckoning figure that we’ve all known all of our lives, within us and around us. And for me, it’s very exciting,” he said at the time.
At the time, his decision received mixed commentary from the public and he later released a book about his own experience of religion titled How to Become a Christian in 7 Days.
YouTube controversy
Brand currently runs a YouTube channel with over six million followers. He regularly uploaded his Sunday Service series and would give his commentary to those who tuned in.
In 2023, YouTube suspended Brand’s channels for earning money from adverts. “If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action,” they said in a statement at the time.
Family time
Russell and wife Laura, who was with him in court today, married in 2017 and share three children together.
“No one wants their kid to be a drug addict. I just want to be present and available,” he said of being a father. “I’m lucky my wife comes on tour with me, and I get to go off to the playground [with Mabel].
“It’s me who changes her nappy when we’re out in a restaurant. I’m doing stuff all the time with her.”
The pair first met in 2006 at Edinburgh festival and they started dating soon after. They remained friends whilst Brand was married to singer Katy Perry, before eventually rekindling their romance in 2015.
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
