Bursting onto the scene as a provocative comedian before transforming into a Hollywood star then internet conspiracy theorist, Russell Brand still boasts millions of online fans despite being accused of rape.
Brand, who has almost seven million subscribers on YouTube, 11.3 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) and 4.8 million on Instagram, was on Friday charged with rape and a number of other sexual offences.
For a long time, the 49-year-old was best known for his hyper-sexualised and often lewd comedy shows as well as anything-goes appearances on British TV and radio that made him a household name in the early 2000s.
He boasted of his promiscuity during his rise to fame, saying he had had sexual relationships with more than 1,000 women, earning him a tabloid newspaper award of “shagger of the year” for several years running.
Brand, born to working-class parents in Essex, east of London in 1975, began his stand-up career as a teenager.
He was hired by MTV at the age of 25, but was fired for turning up to work dressed as Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 terror attacks and for inviting his drug dealer into the studios.
After giving up drugs and alcohol, he was handed his first radio show in 2002 before hosting the “Russell Brand Show” on BBC Radio 6 and then moving to Radio 2.
Brand resigned in 2008 after he and fellow presenter Jonathan Ross made a phone call to a veteran British comedy actor, detailing how he had slept with his granddaughter.
He also presented a “Big Brother” spin-off show for several years, wrote columns for the left-wing Guardian newspaper and penned two autobiographies, in which he detailed his stints in rehab.
While his fashion sense, provocative persona and close-to-the-bone humour horrified many, he has never been short of fans, developing a cultish following from his early days.
His charismatic energy also attracted the attention of Hollywood, and he made a number of films, the most famous being 2008’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”.
His fame rose further when he married US superstar singer Katy Perry in October 2010, a relationship he ended by text message 14 months later. Their divorce was finalised in 2012.
In an interview with Vogue in 2013, Perry spoke of falling in love with a “magical man”, who became “very controlling” when she proved herself his equal.
He then had a relationship with Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of billionaire James Goldsmith, but they separated after a year.
Hinting at his later reinvention as a political influencer, Brand hit the headlines in 2015 when he interviewed Labour leader Ed Miliband for his podcast at the height of the UK election campaign.
Brand married blogger Laura Gallacher in 2017, and the couple have three children.
Since marrying, Brand became a less conspicuous presence on British television and radio, and instead led a genteel life in the English countryside.
– Anti-vaccine tirades –
However, he has amassed millions of fans following his transformation into an online wellness guru, dishing out advice on marriage, veganism and meditation, as well as offering political tirades.
He rose in prominence during the pandemic when he claimed that pharmaceutical companies were lying about vaccines in order to make money and that governments and global institutions were exaggerating the threat of Covid in order to bring about radical social change.
YouTube took down one of his videos for featuring Covid disinformation and the BBC removed some of his content from its streaming platform.
A year-long investigation by Channel 4, The Sunday Times and The Times in 2023 aired accusations of rape and sexual assault between 2006 and 2013, sparking a police investigation.
Brand has always denied accusations of rape and sexual assault, saying in a video posted on X on Friday: “I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord.”
“I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in non consensual activity.”
YouTube took down one of his videos for featuring Covid disinformation and the BBC removed some of his content from its streaming platform.
A year-long investigation by Channel 4, The Sunday Times and The Times in 2023 aired accusations of rape and sexual assault between 2006 and 2013, sparking a police investigation.
Brand has always denied accusations of rape and sexual assault, saying in a video posted on X on Friday: “I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord.”
“I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile, but what I never was was a rapist. I’ve never engaged in non consensual activity.”