Russell Brand moving toward baptism, attending churches amid sexual abuse allegations
Actor Russell Brand shared in a recent Instagram post that he has been going to different churches and is interested in being baptized as he continues to face allegations of sexual misconduct and a lawsuit.
On Instagram Wednesday, the 48-year-old actor questioned his followers about the Church and asked different questions surrounding the act of baptism.
"I've been going to church, a church where they do Alpha courses. I guess that's sort of Church of England. I've been to a Catholic Church, and I'm considering going to an Eastern Orthodox Church," Brand, who has starred in several movies throughout his career, said in an Instagram video.
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"Do you think that different denominations and distinctions are important when you look at God and the figure of Christ from, as best as one might claim, a universal perspective?"
Brand asked his followers if it is possible to be "universal" on topics such as kindness, service, surrender, gratitude, and understanding suffering, even if it's God's Will.
"I know that there are numerous distinctions ecclesiastical and ontological, but I feel that at the moment, I'm moving towards a kind of moment of baptism. I mean, are you baptized?" Brand asked.
"Did you get baptized as an adult? Would you do it in a river? Would you do it in a font? Do you want to get fully under there? Because, me, I want River Jordan or River Thames, at worst. I want proper plunging."
Brand wondered about the importance of having a specific house of worship.
"Tell me, what is the importance of the Church, and tell me is it important what church you go to because I'm just learning, man," he continued.
"I'm just learning, and you know, if I don't get clear guidance, I have to make a decision just sort of based on what petal I'm on. Let me know what you're into in the Holy Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen," he concluded at the end of the Instagram video.
Brand received praise from many fans who commented on the post as he seemingly navigates a public spiritual conversion journey to the Christian faith.
In January, he stated that Christ is becoming "more important" in his life and that he desires "a personal relationship" with God. In December, he told followers he was reading the Bible and C.S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain, a 1940 book that explores the role of suffering in a Christian context.
The actor has also come under heavy public scrutiny and criticism as a result of several allegations of sexual misconduct that have been brought up against him.
In September, a joint investigation by The Times of London and Channel 4 found that four women alleged Brand had sexually assaulted them between 2006 and 2013 during the height of his film career.
A subsequent report from The Sunday Times alleged that Brand assaulted a girl who was 16 years old at the time during an allegedly "emotionally and sexually abusive" relationship.
Another woman told The Times that Brand raped her at his Los Angeles home in 2012, though she did not file a police report.
Brand is also reportedly facing a lawsuit from one woman who claims he sexually assaulted her on the set of the 2011 "Arthur" remake, a film in which she was cast as an extra for three days of filming in New York City.
The woman accused Brand of being "visibly intoxicated" on July 7, 2010, when he made eye contact with her and "pulled his erect penis out of his pants in an open and obvious manner ... in the presence of everyone on set," according to a complaint filed in late 2023 in the Supreme Court of New York, Suffolk County.
Doe reported that Brand did not receive any discipline for the alleged exposure.
She claims that "Brand's behavior was treated as acceptable to the Corporate Defendants' employees on set," according to USA Today.
Doe said that Brand sexually assaulted her in a bathroom stall later that same day while "there was a production crew member directly outside the bathroom door in a position that indicated that they were guarding the door to ensure that Brand would not be interrupted as he cornered and sexually assaulted" her.
The woman included in her allegations of assault that she was not only refused payment for the day she was on set, but she was also not asked to return for a second or third day on set.
Doe is suing with claims of assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, retention and supervision, as well as negligence, aiding and abetting assault and battery.
In an affidavit, Doe requested that the court maintain her anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
"I am terrified of being blacklisted in the industry or suffering other negative effects beyond what I already suffered if my name is associated with a sexual assault lawsuit against others in the industry," she stated in the filing.
"I cannot bear to imagine my career that I love being jeopardized."
In an interview with The Sunday Times, the woman said she felt "used and abused."
"Disgusting is the only word," she claimed. "I felt like I was being used, that I was just an object for his momentary titillation."
Brand has denied the "very serious criminal allegations" and maintained that while he was "very, very promiscuous" in the past, all of his sexual relationships were "always consensual."
During an interview with Tucker Carlson last year, Brand said, "Like many desperate people, I need spirituality. I need God, or I cannot cope in this world. I need to believe in the best in people."
In a January social media post, Brand shared more about his embrace of spirituality.
"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 detailed.
The actor added that he had been "reading the Bible a lot more" and Rick Warren's book The Purpose-Driven Life. He said that in his younger years, Christianity seemed to him to be "really irrelevant and old-fashioned and sort of dusty" or too modernized.
His perspective, he said, has changed as he has experienced "a certain amount of adulthood." He has come "to recognize that you need, I need, 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 in an apparent reference to Galatians 2:20.
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
