Journalist Katie Glass has recalled interviewing Russell Brand just two days after his wedding to Laura Gallacher, an encounter in which he complimented her eyes and asked: "Do you want a cuddle?" before giving her one. Writing in The Times, Glass reflected on the 2017 meeting, which took place at an upmarket hotel on the outskirts of London while Brand was promoting his book Recovery and presenting himself as a man who had undergone a profound spiritual awakening.
The interview setting
Glass recalled first coming across Brand years earlier, when he would appear backstage alongside Amy Winehouse and flirt with make-up artists. By the time of their meeting, she wrote, "Now he was 42. Gone was the kohl-eyed Jack Sparrow look - he was in his man bun era. He was peddling his reinvention as a spiritual guru. I didn't buy it."
Brand had married Laura two days earlier, and their daughter was ten months old. Glass described him as possessing magnetic self-assurance, likening his swaggering charisma to that more commonly associated with cult leaders and rock stars.
Charm and questions
She wrote: "He did not seem a monster, as Tina Brown considered Harvey Weinstein, but then it is a misconception to think all dangerous men are overtly monstrous." She added: "He was charming, flirtatious, clever, offering me food, water and coffee, name-dropping Buddhist teachers and the Dalai Lama, asking if we'd met before. He must have met a lot of women."
Glass recalled that he repeatedly used her first name, remarking "I don't know, Katie," while maintaining eye contact. He had also turned up late and, when she asked for additional interview time, replied: "I'm not a very complicated person. I think an hour - you'll have drained every possible drop from me.."
She continued: "It is possible to fancy someone and dislike them. I felt like he disliked women. In his stand-up he dehumanised them, joking about choking them during sex acts." One story involved an orgy at his home, which he recounted by saying: "Four in the bed, two in the kitchen, three in the hot tub and still the doorbell rings." She questioned how such views aligned with his claims of having embraced spirituality and, subsequently, becoming an advocate for equality.
Scepticism over his reinvention
Interviewing him about Recovery, Glass indicated she remained sceptical of his portrayal of himself as someone who had discovered spiritual salvation. She recalled asking him about his greatest regret from his time as a sex addict, having expected him to express remorse over his past behaviour. Instead, he responded: "I don't have any."
When she asked whether he regretted any of his behaviour, he said those experiences "don't exist now. It's not real. It's an illusion. I'm really content and connected to where I am."
Conviction and custody
Her recollections emerge after Brand was convicted on Thursday of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. The 51-year-old was found guilty of raping a 21-year-old fan in 2009 and sexually assaulting three women in separate incidents between 2004 and 2009. He was acquitted of two further rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.
Brand denied all the charges, with his legal team arguing he had been wrongly accused and was the victim of a media conspiracy. Two further allegations against him are also under investigation, while he remains in custody awaiting sentencing on Monday.
