Whatever happened to Russell Brand? Comedian’s strange career turn

Having seen his Hollywood career flop and TV work dry up, Russell Brand has seemingly reinvented himself as a YouTube conspiracy theorist.

Having seen his Hollywood career flop and TV work dry up, Russell Brand has seemingly reinvented himself as a YouTube conspiracy theorist.

The English stand-up comedian’s controversial views on the world’s biggest news events have pulled in 5.4 million subscribers to his channels – and have drawn comparisons to outspoken former English footballer David Icke, who believed Earth had been hijacked by shapeshifting reptilians.

Brand’s daily videos, which attract around a million views, have so far questioned vaccines, blamed the US for the war in Ukraine and claimed the Eastern Europe nation’s 2014 pro-EU revolution was driven by “neo-Nazis”, The Sun reports.

Essex-born Brand, 46, welcomes his audience – who he calls “shimmering souls” – to “a journey of awakening together”, to “create new narratives”.

Brand circa 2010 with then-wife Katy Perry. Picture: AFP

These days he communicates with fans via YouTube.

These include comparing Canada’s liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to China’s dictator Xi Jinping, because of the country’s strict Covid-19 restrictions, and suggesting vaccines are part of a plot to impose “digital IDs” on the global population.

This week he boasted in an interview that “a friend of mine, who is also married into the royal family, said that other than the Queen of England, I was the most English person she knew”.

Meghan Markle – who starred with Brand in 2010 movie Get Him To The Greek and married Prince Harry four years ago – has condemned the spreading by conspiracy theorists of Covid misinformation, so may want to reconsider their friendship.

It is a remarkable political rebrand for the married father-of-two, who once backed mild-mannered Ed Miliband’s bid to become a UK Labour Prime Minister in 2015.

Among his clickbait titles are: “They WANT War (And They’re Not Russian)”, “You’ve Been LIED To About Why Ukraine War Began”, and “They Planned It All Along”.

In the 15-minute online “discussions”, meditation-lover Brand shouts, arms outstretched, and jabs wildly towards the screen.

Brand in Get Him To The Greek, part of his brief Hollywood career.

He repeatedly states that he’s not a “conspiracy theorist” but suggests a mysterious world order is conspiring to keep the truth from us.

Brand, whose two-year marriage to singer Katy Perry ended in 2012, told the UK Big Issue that the answer to the world’s problems was greater democracy.

“I feel we need to bring spirituality to the forefront of our politics,” he told the magazine.

“What I mean by spirituality is what I call Sesame Street values – kindness, service, community.”

But those on the receiving end of his criticism might not see it that way.

Strident anti-capitalist Brand, reportedly worth more than $17 million, does not charge subscribers to his channel.

But tickets to his current political stage tour are $59 and he sells Stay Free T-shirts for $45.

And revenue from adverts on cryptocurrency and debt advice that appear on his video clips help to fund the digital platform.

Brand back in the early noughties: Comedy’s newest bad boy.

Misinformation flowing ‘unabated’

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, told The Sun: “It is very clear that vaccine misinformation has been allowed to flow unabated on social media for a long time. It has created this sense that it is an acceptable way to make a living.”

Spotify was boycotted by a number of musicians after podcaster Joe Rogan came under fire for hosting interviews with people accused of spreading Covid misinformation.

Like Rogan, Brand has also been controversial.

In an episode this month called They Planned It All Along, he invited conspiracy theorist Nick Corbishley to talk.

The author of Scanned: Why Vaccine Passports And Digital IDs Will Mean The End Of Privacy And Personal Freedom claims the World Economic Forum (WEF) discussed using mass vaccinations to help track the population.

Brand asked his followers: “Did you know the WEF were talking about digital IDs way back in 2016, four years before the pandemic?”

It is a theory that has been debunked by leading experts.

Brand has also called into question the UK government’s plan for a fourth vaccine dose for vulnerable people plus those aged over 75.

While admitting he’s “not qualified” to judge whether people should or should not have a jab, he said in his episode You’re Not Going To Like This: “The CEO of Pfizer suggested that a fourth vaccine booster shot might be necessary, you know, for everyone’s immunity and our good health – and not because it’s the most profitable medicine in history, right?”

He went on to repeat a claim also made by anti-vaxxers that immune systems are being compromised by repeated doses.

That is despite leading experts stating booster shots greatly reduce the risk of death from coronavirus.

And the UK Health Security Agency data suggested a third vaccine had provided 88 per cent effectiveness against hospitalisation from the Omicron variant.

Brand has recently turned his attention from Covid to the war in Ukraine.

Brand insists he is not an anti-vaxxer and is simply airing alternative perspectives.

In The Truth Is Coming Out he claims US authorities are trying to “hide” the “truth about vaccine” effectiveness, even though Pfizer has published its own data.

Ukraine new focus for Brand

In the past month Brand has switched his focus to the war in Ukraine.

In one episode, he said: “How did a US-backed, far-right-led revolution in Ukraine help bring us to the situation we find ourselves in today with regard to the Russian invasion?

Even if unintentional, this parrots the Kremlin’s justification for its illegal invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed he sent in troops to remove Ukraine’s “neo-Nazi government”.

This is despite the fact the far right Azov group achieved just 2 per cent of the vote in the country’s most recent elections and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish.

Brand’s new online venture is a world away from his party-loving past.

While it is true that some far-right activists did want to depose Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, the revolution was overwhelmingly led by liberal, pro-European organisations.

It followed the imprisonment of Mr Yanukovych’s main opponent and his sudden decision not to sign a political agreement with the EU.

When Russia illegally annexed Crimea later that year, the Ukrainian government bolstered its military force to deter further attempts by its neighbour to occupy territory.

Yet in an episode titled You’ve Been Lied To About Why Ukraine War Began, Brand called militarisation of Ukraine a “hostile encroachment on Russian sovereignty”.

According to Brand, the US and its Allies might be siding with Ukraine’s democratically elected president because they want his country’s resources.

But in the Big Issue article, Brand said: “The truth is, I don’t know anything.”

Signs of Brand’s re-branding

His new online venture is a world away from his party-loving past. But there have long been signs that Brand, who wrote an autobiography in 2007 delving into his rampant desire for sex and drugs, had a fascination with oddball ideas.

Back in 2008 for a radio show, Brand interviewed conspiracy theorist David Icke, who believes the world is controlled by secret lizard people.

He admitted that “as a 15-year-old” he thought “this is all right” when sports pundit-turned-conspiracy theorist David Icke gave a bizarre interview to Terry Wogan in which he claimed to be the Son of the Godhead.

And Brand has given airtime to Icke, interviewing him twice for his BBC Radio 2 show in 2008.

His stalled bid for stardom, following the flop remake of Arthur in 2011, hasn’t stopped him gaining new fans on the other side of the Atlantic, either, with many of his followers who post positive messages coming from the US.

While Brand might tell his listeners not to believe everything he says, because “I’m just a bloke out of Sarah Marshall”, a dangerous number of them appear to believe him anyway.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission