Russell Brand

Brand came up through stand-up and radio, lost an MTV job for arriving at work dressed as Osama bin Laden the day after the September 11 attacks, and was deep in addiction through much of that period. My Booky Wook covers it. He got clean in 2002, and Recovery, a decade later, rewrites the twelve steps in his own language. He has since moved through political activism, a book arguing for revolution, and latterly a large online following built on wellness and anti-establishment material, and was baptised in the Thames in 2024. In September 2023 a joint investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4 published allegations against him by several women. He was charged in 2025, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts involving six women over incidents alleged between 1999 and 2005, and is due to stand trial in October 2026.