Actor and comedian Russell Brand to be baptized

After months of wrestling with the tenets of Christianity, actor and comedian Russell Brand announced he's going to be baptized this weekend. 

The St Trinian's actor posted to X to share the news with his followers. "This Sunday, I'm taking the plunge. I'm getting baptized."

Baptism. This Sunday I’m taking the plunge! How was it for you? pic.twitter.com/DnwcUrzoqa

— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) April 26, 2024

When Brand heard baptism explained 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," he said. "All of these things seem so inviting and beautiful."

Brand admits that he has wanted more which pointed him towards Christianity, along with many others. "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 to the Christian Post. "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." 

Back in December, Brand opened up to his followers about reading the Bible and Rick Warren's, A Purpose-Driven Life which helped him "desire a personal relationship with God.

"The reason I wear a cross is because Christianity and, in particular, the figure of Christ, are, it seems to me, inevitably becoming more important as I become more familiar with suffering, purpose, self, and not-self," he said at the time.

In March of 2023, Brand said in an interview with Tucker Carlson, "Like many desperate people, I need spirituality. I need God, or I cannot cope in this world. I need to believe in the best in people."

Brand admits that he "didn't have enough self-discipline to resist the allure of stardom," he said he "fell face-first into the glitter, and I'm only just pulling myself out now."

In the fall of 2023 an investigation by The Times, the Sunday Times and British television show Dispatches brought forward allegations from multiple women of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse. The media reports, released on Sep. 16, 2023, say that at least five women alleged that they were assaulted by the actor between 2006 and 2013. 

Brand took to his social media accounts a day before the reports were released and in a video denied what he said were "very serious criminal" allegations. He said that some accusations were related to past “promiscuous” behaviour, but there were other allegations which he "absolutely refutes."

“I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks,” he said in the video. “But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”

Brand continues to deny the allegations, and says it's part of an organized attack against him as a result of his work challenging the mainstream media.

Police continue to investigate the allegations.