Bear Grylls claims 'a privilege' to support Russell Brand's new Christian faith despite assault allegations
Popular TV host and author Bear Grylls recently defended his support for friend and actor Russell Brand in his newfound faith despite allegations of rape and sexual assault against the embattled comedian.
"Russell, you know, [it was] a privilege to stand beside him as he was getting baptized; that is a life journey for him," Grylls, 50, told the Australian edition of The Daily Telegraph.
"I really wish him well and his lovely family," Grylls added.
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Grylls, an outspoken devout Christian and the son of a former Conservative member of the United Kingdom Parliament, was one of two friends who assisted in Brand's baptism in the River Thames this past April.
The next week, Brand posted an image on Instagram of himself embracing Grylls and his other friend immediately after his baptism, writing, "Me, Bear Grylls, The River Thames and of course, The Holy Spirit."
Brand's baptism came less than a year after a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches reported on allegations from four women who accused Brand of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.
Brand has denied the "very serious criminal allegations" and confessed that while he was "very, very promiscuous" in the past, his sexual encounters were "always consensual."
Grylls became friends after Brand was a guest on Grylls' popular reality TV show "Running Wild with Bear Grylls."
"Let's hope all of that stuff works itself out in a good way," Grylls said of the allegations against Brand. "And let's hope those accusations aren't true, for everybody's sake, but I always try and live without judging anyone."
"I stand beside many people … that's a privilege, trying never to judge, always to love, always be kind, support people wherever they are."
After the image of Brand's baptism went viral, Grylls stepped down from his position of chief scout of the U.K.-based Scout Association, according to The Independent.
"Faith and spiritual moments in our lives are really personal," Grylls told the Daily Mail at the time of Brand's baptism. "But it is a privilege to stand beside anyone when they express a humble need for forgiveness and strength from above."
"Friendships when we go through tough times are worth so much," he added.
Brand has remained vocal since his recent Christian conversion, saying during a recent conversation that he is "in the business of serving Jesus."
"In surrendering to Christ, there is something extraordinary about saying there is this man, another man, entirely God, entirely man," Brand said. "But through some necessary, extraordinary, metaphysical act just beyond the edge of rational understanding came the Creator of this simulation came into the simulation and told us 'Hello, I am God. I've come here. Here are some virtues and values.'"
Brand referenced 20th-century author and theologian C.S. Lewis, whose books The Problem of Pain and Mere Christianity he has publicly promoted.
"C.S. Lewis talks about the 'stoics era' … to imagine that one might be able to do always what one can do sometimes. You know, there are times where it's like … 'I am not in the business of Russell Brand anymore," Brand said.
"I am in the business of service. Serve Jesus Christ. And it's such a powerful idea that I'm held alive by it. But surely, this parasite nature grips me again, and I return to egotism. I return to wanting and longing and fear. And all of those limiting things."
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to [email protected]
