Brand blasted for ‘disgusting’ jokes about ex

A file photo of Russell Brand. Picture: Gus Ruelas

A file photo of Russell Brand. Picture: Gus Ruelas

Published Aug 6, 2013

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 RUSSELL Brand has used his stand-up routine to launch a humiliating personal attack on his ex-wife.

The controversial comic said sleeping with singer Katy Perry had been so boring that he had to fantasise about other women when they made love.

He said he’d be thinking ‘of anyone, anyone else’.

In a warm-up routine for his new world tour, Brand joked that being in a monogamous relationship with the 28-year-old pop star was little better than being a monk because he was unable to have sex with other women.

During a show at London’s Soho Theatre last week, he said: ‘When you’re a monk, you’re not allowed to have sex with anyone. When you’re married, it’s one person. That’s one more than a monk. It’s not that different.’

He added: ‘I’d be having sex thinking, “Think of anyone, anyone else”.’

On Monday the 38-year-old’s comments provoked a backlash from fans, some of whom called him a ‘disgusting, vile man’ while others simply described the comments as ‘graceless’.

Brand – who resigned from the BBC in 2008 after leaving crass voicemail messages for veteran actor Andrew Sachs – divorced Miss Perry in July last year after less than two years of marriage citing ‘irreconcilable differences’. He decided to share his highly personal reflections on their marriage in his Messiah Complex comedy tour.

Reacting to the commentson Monday, many of Brand’s fans turned against him. Writing on Mail Online, one said: ‘I usually love Russell Brand’s style, but these comments are disgusting. She’s already been through a divorce, why are you now making such fun of Katy? The married life is clearly not for him. Ever.’

A second added: ‘What a graceless comment to make about any woman, let alone one you cared enough about to marry. No manners and no respect.’

A third said: ‘Russell Brand is a disgusting, vile man. We all knew Katy Perry was WAY too good for him but how incredibly rude and pathetic for him to admit that he thought of other women whilst they were being intimate. He is not the least bit funny and constantly looks dirty.’

It is not the first time Miss Perry has been the target of Brand’s humour. In 2010, he joked about her acting skills during a radio interview after she appeared in his movie Get Him to The Greek. He said: ‘Her acting was so atrocious that it ruined the film. It just made the film boring and rubbish.’

And reflecting on his marriage on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories the following year, he said: ‘I can’t believe I used to have sex 20 times a week, especially now I’m married. But now I’m a bloody good gardener.’

The couple met in summer 2009 when Miss Perry was filming her cameo appearance for Get Him to the Greek.

They started dating after meeting again in September that year when Brand hosted the MTV Music Awards.

After a whirlwind romance, they announced their engagement in December 2009. Brand proposed to Miss Perry on holiday in India.

They married in October 2010 but separated after just 14 months. It was rumoured Brand told Miss Perry of his decision to leave her via a text message on New Year’s Eve.

In an interview following his divorce, Brand said: ‘When I was married it did work out in a way because I was married for some time and that’s really good, and then you’re not married and that’s really good.

‘We were suited for that amount of time but this is a new time.’ Brand has since been linked with a string of women, including Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and Hollywood PR Isabella Brewster. Although Miss Perry has not reacted to Brand’s latest taunts, she recently told how she disliked being the butt of his jokes. ‘He was hysterical in some ways,’ she told US Vogue last month. ‘Until he started making jokes about me and he didn’t know I was in the audience, because I had come to surprise him at one of his shows. So – hysterical to a point.’

Last month, Brand was criticised by the wife of Andrew Sachs after blaming ‘Sachsgate’ on ‘dishonest’ reporting.

He used an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs to present his own version of the 2008 scandal, in which he and presenter Jonathan Ross left the actor a series of obscene messages, including boasts of sleeping with Mr Sachs’s granddaughter and joking that the 83-year-old former Fawlty Towers star might hang himself as a result of the calls.

The incident provoked 42,000 complaints. Melody Sachs said his failure to apologise fully for the comments was an ‘insult’ and ‘very, very nasty to hear’.

Spokesmen for Brand and Miss Perry did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. - Daily Mail

 

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