Russell Brand Changes Religion To Promote Religious App
Russell Brand, the comedian who over the last few years turned into a far right political influencer through his conspiracy theory podcast, has made the decision to become Catholic…months after the Catholic prayer app Hallow started advertising on his platform.
Brand announced his decision to get baptized on X on Friday, telling people he’s “taking the plunge,” and that he’s “leaving the past behind” to “be reborn in Christ’s name,” and “live as an enlightened and awakened person.”
Brand’s baptism is the culmination of months discussing his relationship with Christianity which featured wearing a crucifix in December, giving up sugar for lent, at some point memorizing the Rosary “by heart,” and, well, advertising from Hallow.
Note that Brand has always been the spiritual type, but he was not previously seen as religious, especially not as a Christian — being someone who’s always “struggled with authority and being told what to do.”
The decision to leave the past behind also comes just months after several sexual assault allegations against him were revealed by a September 2023 joint investigation by the Times of London and Channel 4.
The probe alleges that Brand assaulted at least four women, one of whom was 16 at the time, between 2006 and 2013. One of the women said that he raped her in his LA home, and the report referred to medical records that said she was treated at a rape crisis center on the day she said the incident happened. A number of other women also accused Brand of “controlling, abusive and predatory behavior.”
Brand has denied these allegations and dismissed them as being part of his life as a “very, very promiscuous” man, and claimed that his sexual relationships have all been consensual.
Not surprisingly, the conspiracy theorist also told his millions of followers on X, TikTok, Instagram, and Rumble that the accusations were the result of a “serious and concerted agenda” by the media to silence him. The former comedian is currently under investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police for these accusations.
Hallow’s decision to engage Brand as an ambassador does seem questionable — is this process of converting to Catholicism a publicity stunt?
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As long as it keeps raking in the cash, and I get lots of “followers” who needs morals, scruples, or any sense of decency? This is the unfortunate world started my “hot or not” (Zuckerberg), and that continues with largely the greedy US media and the rest of the social media world. We are letting deeply hurt narcissists run the world, get mega rich doing so and we’re allowing our kids and some adults to continue to pay them to do so. We get what we deserve.