Actor and podcast host Russell Brand said he is now wearing a Christian cross necklace and desiring a “personal relationship with God.”
Brand explained on Sunday in a social media video that he has been on a spiritual journey after battling several sexual assault allegations from his past, for which he has vehemently denied any criminal wrongdoing.
“The reason I wear a cross is because Christianity and, in particular, the figure of Christ are, it seems to me, inevitably becoming more important as I become more familiar with suffering, purpose, self, and not self,” Brand said.
The father of two children shared how he has been “reading the Bible a lot more,” in addition to Rick Warren’s bestselling book The Purpose-Driven Life.
The actor, known for his wild lifestyle, admitted on Sunday that he had grown up viewing Christianity as either “really irrelevant, and old-fashioned, and sort of dusty” or too modernized with guitar playing.
He said he remembered questioning whether “both of those routes” were anything that really spoke to him.
Now, at 48 years old, Brand said he thinks it took him “a certain amount of adulthood” to realize that he needed “a personal relationship with God.”
“It occurred to me that if instead of always talking to myself inwardly, I could replace one of those voices with an indwelling God. It says in Galatians it’s our job to die, so that as Christ died on the cross, he might be reborn in us,” he said, referencing Galatians 2:20.
Brand’s video received the encouragement from his many fans on social media as several pastors and priests weighed in to welcome him to the faith.
“My name is Greg Laurie and my life was radically changed by Jesus Christ. I like you was put off by Christians at first, but then I heard the Gospel message,” Greg Laurie, pastor of the California-based Harvest Christian Fellowship, said to Brand on social media.
Laurie, who was mentored by Calvary Chapel pastor Chuck Smith and evangelical Billy Graham, added, “The good news is that God loved us so much He sent His only son to die on the cross for our sins and then rise from the dead. Jesus is alive and ready to come into your life, Russell! He is just a prayer away.”
“Brilliant!” independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in response to Brand’s video.
“An important phrase I learned from the time I was a child: The older I get the smarter my father becomes. My faith is like that. The older I’ve gotten the stronger my faith has become. Thanks for sharing this,” Mike Flynn responded to Brand’s post.
“If he’s not a Christian already, he may get there soon. The important question he needs to answer for himself is not whether Christianity is useful, but whether it’s true,” Seth Dillon, CEO of Babylon Bee, said.
Brand has been sharing with his growing legion of fans about his intellectual and spiritual journey while getting a Jesus tattoo and reading books by theologian C.S. Lewis.
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As Brand has been exploring his Christian faith, he has been dealing with accusations from several women accusing him of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse, which came about in an investigation conducted by the Times of London, Sunday Times, and Channel 4 in September 2023. Brand has rejected the allegations of incidents between 2006 and 2013. While he has admitted to being promiscuous, he has claimed the encounters were “always consensual.”
YouTube had attempted to de-platform Brand following the allegations by banning advertisements from appearing alongside his videos, but he has managed to recruit more than 120,000 people to pay him $60 annually for his Awakened Wonders community group. YouTube had previously taken down some of his videos, which questioned medical information during the pandemic. He then diversified his audience’s reach by expanding to Rumble and Locals.
