Newly “reborn” Christian Russell Brand struggled to find a “relevant” passage in the Bible he took with him to court on charges of rape and sexual assault.
“Can I go back and ask you a question about your Bible?” political commentator Piers Morgan asked Brand, 50, during a Friday, April 24, interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
“Yes, if you want to,” Brand replied after a contentious back-and-forth with Morgan, 61.
“Thank you,” Morgan said. “Was that the one you took into court?”
“Yeah, the very one,” Brand answered, referring to the Bible placed in front of him during the interview.
“What was your thinking of taking it into court and what — you were seen looking at some passages — what were the relevant passages for you?” Morgan continued.
“Alright, thank you for asking,” Brand replied before fumbling through the Bible. “It was this, from Isiah … It’s this … This is from Isiah … Excuse me … It says here …”
Brand then struggled to locate any “relevant” Bible passage. At one point, Morgan looked square at the camera as the interviewer continued to watch Brand fumble through his Bible.
“The verse that I was looking at that day was …. Not this … I can’t actually find the verse that I had that day,” Brand concluded. “But this is good enough. This is from Isiah 12.”
Brand, who publicly announced he had converted to Christianity and was baptized in the River Thames in April 2024 by reality TV star Bear Grylls, was seen holding a bible during a court hearing in February. The Bible was later confiscated by a court officer after the comedian-turned-right-wing podcaster was seen reading it during the proceedings.
Brand is facing trial over allegations of rape and sexual assault made by six women. He has denied all of the charges, which date from 1999 to 2009.
During a recent interview with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, Brand again denied the allegations against him while admitting he had sex with a 16 year old when he was 30.
“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 said on the Wednesday, April 22, episode of The Megyn Kelly Show. “When I was 30, I was a very different person. I was a lot younger, and I was an immature 30-year-old.”
A woman referred to only as “Alice” told The Sunday Times in September 2023 that Brand was emotionally and sexually abusive to her in 2006, when she was 16 and he was 30.
Alice allegedly reported the behavior to Brand’s agent, who advised her to contact the comedian’s attorney. Per Alice, Brand’s lawyer denied the allegation and took no action.
Brand acknowledged on The Megyn Kelly Show that, while his relationship with a 16 year old in 2006 was not illegal under U.K. law, there were significant moral implications.
“There is a strong power differential, as there is when you’re a famous man that has the ability to attract women that I did at that time, I think involves exploitation,” he said. “I think it is exploitative. I recognize that my sexual conduct in the past was selfish, and I did not apply enough consideration — barely any, I suppose really — to how that sex was affecting other people.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
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