Actor and comedian Russell Brand announced this week that he is going to be baptized this weekend, after months of wrestling with the Christian faith.
“This Sunday, I’m taking the plunge,” Brand said in a video he posted to X. “I’m getting baptized.”
Brand claimed he had heard baptism explained to him as “an opportunity to die and be reborn; an opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in Christ’s name like it says in Galatians — that you can live as an enlightened and awakened person.”
“I know a lot of people are sort of cynical about the increasing interest in Christianity and the return to God, but to me, it’s obvious,” he said. “As meaning deteriorates in the modern world, as our value systems and institutions crumble, all of us become increasingly aware that there is this eerily familiar awakening and beckoning figure that we’ve all known all of our lives, within us and around us. And for me, it’s very exciting.”
Brand added that he intends to get baptized in the heavily polluted River Thames, joking that he might be also getting baptized in “serious viruses.”
“I may be leaving behind the sins, but I might be picking up some pretty serious viruses,” he said.
In March 2022, two of Britain’s most influential newspapers launched attacks on Brand, catching the attention of billionaire Elon Musk and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson – who both defended the actor from the critical articles.
The Independent published an article at the time titled: “How did Russell Brand go from stand-up stardom to peddling YouTube conspiracy theories?”
The piece labeled Brand as “Joe Rogan’s British counterpart.” The article recalled how Brand was once married to Katy Perry and starred in the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” movie.
“I know! I’m disappointed too. But such is the age we live in: One minute, a comedian is going about his life, building his career, and the next, he’s peddling conspiracy theories on YouTube and quoting Glenn Greenwald’s newsletter at length,” wrote Louis Chilton, who covers video games and culture for the outlet. “No, I don’t like it. Yes, I’m exhausted.”
