Russell Brand’s controversial appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored has been widely ridiculed online after the former comedian spent over 90 seconds attempting and failing to find a Bible passage he read in court. Brand, 50, will face trial later this year over allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him by six women. He denies all the charges, which date from 1999 to 2009.
While appearing on Morgan’s YouTube show on Friday (24 April), Brand – who became a right-wing podcaster in 2021 and a Christian last year – was asked about taking a Bible into his court hearing in February. The religious text was confiscated by the dock officer after he began reading it in Southwark Crown Court.
“Can I go back to asking you a question about your Bible?” Morgan asked Brand. “Is that the one you took into court? What was your thinking of taking it into court and you were seen looking at some passages – what were the relevant passages?”
“It was this from Isiah,” he said, before looking through his Bible for over 90 seconds of excruciating silence. After almost two minutes of searching in silence while Morgan shot awkward looks at the camera, Brand finally gave up, admitting: “I can’t actually find the verse that I had that day but this is good enough. This is from Isiah 12.”
The moment has been mocked by viewers since the interview aired, with one writing on X: “This is so painful to watch. Piers Morgan asked Russell Brand to read the passages that were relevant to him when he brought his Bible into court.” Another described it as “one of the most painfully awkward exchanges” of the week, while another tweeted: “There should be a class act lawsuit against Russell Brand for making anyone suffer through this awkward moment. 2 mins of my life I will never get back.”
In the interview, Brand spoke about his prior relationship with a 16-year-old girl, saying that he now believes his actions, while legal, were “morally and spiritually wrong”. Earlier this month, he admitted that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old when he was 30. The woman is not among those bringing charges against Brand.
“How I feel about it, as I’ve said, is that it’s not nice to know that my actions have contributed to a person’s suffering,” he said on Piers Morgan Uncensored. “There should be, there must be, justice for that. The context in which those consensual encounters was happening was a sort of merry deluge of constant consensual activity that was very, very difficult to sometimes believe was happening, but one adjusts to those kind of conditions.
“I would say, Piers, on a personal level, that’s wrong. It’s morally and spiritually wrong, it’s legal. It’s not a legal issue.”
Brand’s trial will take place at Southwark Crown Court on October 12.
