Piers Morgan has been likened to Jim Halpert from the American version of The Office following his comedic glance at the camera during an awkward segment of his weekend interview with Russell Brand. The 61-year-old broadcaster hosted the 50-year-old comedian and actor on his Uncensored YouTube channel to discuss Brand's impending legal proceedings.
Brand is scheduled to stand trial in October on charges including three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault against six women, alleged to have occurred between 1999 and 2009. He has denied all allegations.
During their conversation, Brand admitted that he contemplates the possibility of incarceration 'every day.' Morgan also queried Brand regarding his decision to bring a Bible to a hearing at Southwark Crown Court in February. Noticing Brand had a Bible with him during the show, Morgan asked if it was the same one. 'Yes, the very one,' Brand replied. Morgan then inquired: 'What was your thinking in taking it into court? You were seen looking at some passages… what were the relevant passages for you?'
Brand confidently opened the Bible but quickly became flustered as he struggled to locate the specific passage. Flipping pages back and forth, he could be heard sighing, tutting, and muttering to himself while Morgan simply watched and waited for an answer. At one point, Brand appeared to have found the right passage, announcing 'it says here,' only to shake his head and continue searching. After 90 seconds of dead air, Morgan looked directly into the camera, prompting comparisons to Jim Halpert, known for breaking the fourth wall in The Office.
Social media users quickly drew parallels, with one writing on X: 'Piers staring at Russell then looking at the camera like Jim from The Office is sending me.' Another commented: 'There are big Tim from The Office vibes here.' Others noted: 'Brilliantly played,' and 'This turn to camera.' Eventually, Brand gave up, saying, 'The verse I was looking at that day... I can't actually find the verse that I had that day... but this one is good enough.'
Elsewhere in the interview, Morgan asked Brand if he had considered the prospect of going to prison. Brand replied: 'Yes… all the time, every day.' Referring to his faith, he added: 'I will be with God wherever I am. And of course, I would prefer to be with God with my wife and my kids… I'm not saying that that's not a difficult image… of course it is.' He continued: 'We are going to find out the truth, and we're going to deal with the truth… if the truth is I am going to prison, then I am.'
Brand also addressed past admissions of sleeping with a 16-year-old girl when he was 30, a relationship unrelated to the current charges. He acknowledged: 'No, I should not have been doing that,' and called it 'not the morally sound thing to do.' He noted that many single, famous men have behaved similarly, adding: 'It's not very easy to live a moral life in a culture that really openly rewarded it. Were you still at The Sun when I was being Shagger of the Year? I was literally being given awards for it.' Joking about winning The Sun's 'Shagger of the Year' title three times, he said: 'Some of the glory's faded, amidst the rape allegations, the Shagger of the Year titles do not seem quite as valuable, I'll have to confess. Some of the shine's come off.'
The comedian now believes 'the only safe place to have sex is within marriage' and agreed with backlash in the US following a recent interview where he discussed the relationship. Pressed on whether the encounter amounted to exploitation, Brand said the key issue was consent, noting the age of consent varies across jurisdictions. 'In the place where I was… that was a legal thing to be doing, but not a morally sound thing to be doing,' he concluded.
