Russell Brand is making headlines for the wrong reasons again, as he is currently facing more allegations of sexual assault. These new claims come after a history of similar allegations over the years, all of which Brand has strongly denied. Brand has vehemently denied any wrongdoing throughout all of the allegations, insisting that his relationships have always been consensual and calling the backlash a “coordinated media attack.”
Interestingly, in the middle of the latest allegations, the 49-year-old English comedian and actor surprised fans by opening up about something pretty unexpected: his previous marriage to 40-year-old “Lifetimes” singer, Katy Perry.
On April 3rd, he shared a video with his 4.8M Instagram followers and made some rare comments about why he believes their 14-month marriage ended in divorce all those years ago.
Katy Perry And Russell Brand's Relationship
The "Roar" singer and the Get Him to the Greek actor had a famously whirlwind romance. After dating for just four months, they announced their engagement in January 2010 and tied the knot in a traditional Hindu ceremony in India in October that same year. They were married for just 14 months, before the Arthur actor allegedly told his then wife he wanted a divorce via text message, which she received just moments before going on stage to perform.
Since then, both Katy and Russell have moved on. The former American Idol judge is now engaged to Pirates of the Caribbean actor, Orlando Bloom, with whom she shares daughter Daisy, while the Paradise actor has been married to author and illustrator Laura Brand since 2017. They share three daughters: Mabel, Peggy, and a third daughter born in November 2023 whose name has not yet been revealed.
The Forgetting Sarah Marshall actor hasn't addressed the divorce much, but he told Howard Stern in July 2012: "I don't want to be too glib. She'll read [about what I said] and she'll be sad and I don't want that. It was a lovely relationship; it mostly didn't work for practical reasons. [Now] we've both gone our separate ways."
He also touched on their brief relationship back in October 2017 during an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show, saying they both had "a very, very wonderful time." He added: "She was lovely. She’s such a lovely person I’ve got nothing but love for her." So imagine fans' surprise when he mentioned their marriage on Instagram all these years later…
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Russell Brand Addresses Katy Perry Divorce In April 2025 Instagram Post
"When I was married to Katy Perry, there wasn't anything off-key with her, nor was she involved in anything nefarious," Brand captioned his video, which had a similar message about their marriage and divorce.
"Our marriage didn't work out for normal, human reasons. I have nothing but respect for her!" he exclaimed. Brand also mentioned that his daughters are big fans of the "Harleys in Hawaii" hitmaker, saying: "Plus, my daughters LOVE Katy Perry."
Internet Reactions
As expected, the internet had a lot to say about Russell's unexpected Instagram post. A few fans appreciated the maturity in how he spoke about the "Dark Horse" singer, who is due to become the first pop star in space later this month, with one saying: "It's nice that you still hold mad respect for your ex-wife."
However, most others felt the timing was questionable given the serious allegations he's facing right now, with many calling it a distraction from the more serious conversations happening around him.
"Not looking too good in the news this afternoon," wrote a second person on Instagram. "Confused by the purpose of this post… it doesn't make any sense," thought a third, as a fourth concurred: "Why is he randomly talking about her? Did something happen that I missed?" "Deflect. Deflect. Deflect... just like Trump," slammed a fifth.
