After coming out of rehab in 2004, he went on to host Big Brother‘s spin-off show, Big Brother’s Big Mouth, the same year, continuing in the role until 2007.
Brand presented a radio show, The Russell Brand Show, on the BBC between 2006 and 2008. He launched his late-night talk show, Brand X, in 2012.
Brand was on a tour of his latest live show, Bipolarisation, in September 2023 when the allegations broke. The final two remaining tour dates were postponed following the allegations.
Lester Cohen
2007: Russell Brand’s acting career
After appearing in several episodes of The Bill as a teenager in 1994, Brand had his first film role in 2007 in St. Trinian’s. He later appeared in the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall alongside Kristen Bell.
Other notable film roles include 2010’s Get Him To The Greek, alongside Jonah Hill; Arthur; and Rock of Ages. He also did some voice roles, including voicing Dr. Nefario in Despicable Me, and Creek in Trolls.
2008: BBC resignation
In 2008, Brand resigned from the BBC after a scandal over a phone call he made, together with Jonathan Ross, to actor Andrew Sachs, which Brand circulated on air to his BBC radio audience.
During the phone call, Ross announced to Sachs: “He [meaning Brand] f*cked your granddaughter”. Brand subsequently resigned from the BBC, after the BBC Trust deemed the calls a “deplorable intrusion with no editorial justification.” Brand apologised six years later, speaking to Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs.
He said: “Listen, Kirsty, after the show there were two complaints. After it was in the Daily Mail there were subsequently 42,000 complaints.”
Brand added: “I’m sure their offence was genuine – it was wrong, and I apologise for that – but how the information is presented is important.”
2014: Brand starts YouTube channel
Brand has been broadcasting on YouTube since 2014, starting with his series, The Trews: True News with Russell Brand. His channel became increasingly prolific and engaged with right-wing politics during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing 14.5 million subscribers in March 2022.
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