The comedian Russell Brand debunked the “serious and criminal” accusations made against him in a message posted to his YouTube account today.
His remarks were made in advance of tonight’s highly anticipated Channel 4 Dispatches show, which is set to run at 9 p.m. Since then, the 48-year-old has addressed significant claims made against him on his YouTube channel. In a message to his supporters, he declared that he “absolutely refuted” the “serious allegations”.
Russell, who became extremely well-known in the 2000s, has previously been open about his life before to falling in love with wife Laura Gallacher.
Although she is no stranger to celebrity, the pair leads an apparently tranquil life away from the camera. They are only occasionally seen together. Who is this comic, Laura, 36, and Russell, who have balanced their “simple” and quiet lives with the comedian’s contentious, prominent public image?
Who is Laura Gallacher?
The late performer Sir Bruce Forsight was a neighbor of Laura Gallacher, who grew up on one of the most prestigious private estates in the UK, the Wentworth Estate in Surrey. She is the sibling of well-known model and TV personality Kirsty Gallacher and the daughter of Scottish golfer Bernard Gallacher, who served as the captain of multiple European teams during the Ryder Cup. The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play: Easy Activities & Creative Craft for Kids and Their Grown Ups is one of Laura’s many best-selling books as an author and illustrator today. In 2007, Russell and Laura started dating after being introduced by their sister Kirsty.
At that time she was a 19-year-old art student, while he was 30-year-old TV presenter. Laura later told You magazine that she had “really” fallen in love, and had “never experienced love like that before”, but it didn’t last. Appearing on The Wendy Williams Show, the comedian later explained: “We went out with each other, we loved each other very much, but I was [in a phase where] I thought the world was an amusement park made out of orgasms.”
Speaking about how they reconnected on podcast Made by Mammas, Laura said: “I hadn’t seen Russell for years. He was so different. We both immediately knew it was going to be serious.” She explained that connecting the second time round allowed them to rebuild their “foundations and trust again”. She added: “It was very slow, it was getting to know each other and going out on day trips together”.
Speaking to Grazia, she added: “I remember him saying, ‘I think I want a quiet life and a family,’ and it was exactly what I wanted. So, then it was about seeing if we could build a foundation to make that happen.” The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Mabel in 2016, followed by Peggy in 2018. In June 2023 Russell revealed they had another baby on the way, while appearing on the podcast The Diary of a CEO.
Opening up about fatherhood on the episode with host Steven Bartlett, Russell said: “It’s taught me there is a lot more important in this world than me.” Russell and Laura tired in the knot in August 2017, 10 years after they first met, in an intimate ceremony near their home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxon. Only their closest friends and family attended the ceremony. Opening about married life with his wife, Russell previously said: “I feel sometimes like a refugee in my house with this woman, this calm, beautiful woman, who in the most beautiful way possible doesn’t care about what I do.” Speaking to the Guardian, he added: “She’s not interested, in the most delightful way.”
