Russell Brand has been making the media rounds ahead of his trial on SA charges, apparently hoping to get ahead of the narrative and convince the public of his innocence. The strategy, if it can be called that, has not gone as planned.
Brand’s PR tour took a particularly unusual turn when he openly admitted to having s*x with a 16-year-old while he was 30 years old, his justification being that it was legal in the United Kingdom.
“The plain fact of it is that in Europe and in the United Kingdom where I’m from, the age of consent is 16, and I did sleep with a 16-year-old when I was 30,” Brand stated.
He then offered the defense that he was “a very different person” at the time, describing himself as “an immature 30-year-old.”
For a man facing multiple SA allegations, admitting to sleeping with a high schooler while simultaneously promoting a book titled “How to Become a Christian in Seven Days” has not generated the sympathy he may have been hoping for. Critics noted that Brand reportedly converted to Christianity shortly after the allegations became public, with many labeling the religious turn a calculated move to court forgiveness from a more sympathetic audience.
His appearance on Piers Morgan’s show proved to be the low point of the tour. Unlike the friendlier platforms he visited, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Candace Owens, Morgan pressed Brand with pointed questions about his faith and the widely circulated accusation that his conversion was a grift. Brand grew visibly agitated throughout, interpreting nearly every question as a personal attack.
Things spiraled badly when Morgan noted that Brand had previously identified as an atheist, then a Buddhist, before arriving at Christianity. Brand’s response was to accuse Morgan directly of “carrying water for Satan.”
The interview also featured a moment that did Brand no favors when, attempting to cite a Bible verse to counter the grift accusations, he flipped through the pages on camera and could not locate the passage he was looking for.
The friendlier interviews offered little more comfort. Megyn Kelly, who had previously stated she was “done” with Brand if he admitted to sleeping with a 16-year-old, pivoted entirely after his admission, now suggesting that his potential conviction might simply be “God’s plan” for him to minister to men in prison.
“What if you’re supposed to be like ministering to men in jail or changing the lives of the least fortunate among us and this is part of God’s plan for you?” Kelly offered.
Brand responded: “Well, if it’s God’s plan, then there’s no point resisting it, is there? If it’s God’s plan, then off I go and I will serve him there.”
He quickly walked that back, adding that he would “much rather be with my little children and my wife.” Brand now faces trial with a public image his own media appearances have done very little to repair, and with even his closest supporters hedging their bets on the outcome.
