British comedian Russell Brand, who is facing accusations of rape and sexual assault by several women, redoubled his commitment to Christianity over the weekend.
The actor, known for his work in R-rated comedies such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” revealed that he was baptized Sunday in the River Thames. In an Instagram video shared on Monday, the 48-year-old actor said he found the dive “an incredible and profound experience.”
Brand, sitting cross-legged on the floor and wearing a white T-shirt, brown pants and several necklaces, including one with a crucifix, said his history of drug use had left his desires for “tranquility, peace and even transcendence” unfulfilled. ”. . Hours after his baptism on Sunday, Brand said he already felt “changed, in transition.”
“I'm learning and I'll make mistakes, but this is my path now,” he added. “I already feel incredibly blessed, relieved, nourished and sustained.”
Brand, who stopped acting and became an anti-establishment commentator, shared the news of his baptism months after numerous women alleged they were sexually assaulted by him between 2006 and 2013. The allegations first emerged in a joint investigation published in September by the Times of London and the news program “Dispatches” on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.
Brand denied the allegations a day before they were published, saying in a YouTube video: “The relationships I had were absolutely and always consensual.”
He added: “I was always transparent about it. Almost too transparent, and now I'm being transparent. Seeing that transparency metastasize into something criminal that I flatly deny makes me wonder: is there another agenda at play?”
In November, the BBC reported that it had received five complaints about the actor, who was a BBC radio host from 2006 to 2008. A month later, Brand was interviewed “under caution by detectives in relation to six other non-recent cases of a nature.” sexual”. crimes,” the Associated Press reported.
Before Sunday, Brand shared an Instagram video on Friday detailing his decision to get baptized. She said she learned it was “an opportunity to die and be reborn.”
“An opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in the name of Christ,” he added. “Then you will be able to live as an enlightened and awakened person.”
Times staff writer Meredith Blake contributed to this report.
