Sitting cross-legged with a cross on his bronzed chest, Russell Brand’s latest reinvention is a timeless transformation.
Gone are the whiskey alt-style nerds who wore not-so-pretty knit beanies and spouted conspiracy theories to their eager online subscribers.
This new brand has been scrubbed clean and looks almost shiny, reflecting a certain holiness.
Brando is a far cry from the peak of his first wave of success as a comedian 20 years ago, when he was the high priest of toxic masculinity. The nadir came with the Andrew Sachs scandal, in which he and his co-host Jonathan Ross were brutalized. He humiliated the comedian by leaving an explicit voicemail about his granddaughter, who appeared live on Brando’s Radio 2 show.
And today, let’s not forget, Brand is still under investigation by the Metropolitan Police for a number of serious allegations of sexual assault over the years.
Russell Brand revealed this week that he was baptized in the Thames. Bear Grylls and another friend helped him hold him while he was submerged in the water.
But somehow he transformed into a man who wanted to talk about the God within him and who quoted passages from the book of Galatians in the New Testament.
Cynics may think this is all a publicity stunt, but to be fair, brands have been thinking more and more about spirituality in recent years.
The very man who debuted a comedy show titled Messiah Complex in 2013 seems to have just found his own John the Baptist.
Forward, Survival Expert, Old Etonian, Chief Scout, and Dedicated Christian Bear Grylls. With his help, Brando literally took the plunge and was baptized in the River Thames this week, along with Grylls, one of two friends who hugged him as he dipped in the water. revealed.
“I would like to thank Bear Grylls and my buddy Joe for standing on either side of me and supporting me during the baptism itself,” Brando confirmed on social media. “My week as a Christian has been amazing. The ceremony itself was incredible.” Ever the talkative, he said he was “changing, transitioning… being nourished and preserved.” He added that he felt it.
Brando had a riverside house in genteel Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and it is believed that his baptism took place here.
Friends of Grylls said he was very concerned about his role as Brando’s spiritual leader.
A friend from my school days let out a series of surprised insults upon hearing this news, and then explained as follows: Anyone who repents will be saved. If you have strong beliefs like Bear, that’s the only consideration. Only God judges! But I’m a little surprised. ”
Brand posted a photo taken with Grylls and another friend during a baptism in the River Thames.
Grylls himself, a lifelong Christian, explained: “Faith and spiritual moments in our lives are truly personal, but it is an honor to be there for those who humbly need forgiveness and strength from above.” Difficult times. The friendships you make when you overcome this are so valuable. ”
The bromance between the two men is pretty impressive.
The two apparently met last year when Brando appeared on National Geographic’s “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” on AppleTV+, where he talked about life, addiction, and spirituality in the Hebrides. Grylls, who was a year older, nodded encouragingly.
Despite all this on-screen support, Grylls’ friends told me they were surprised that their relationship continued after filming.
But if you ignore God, Brando also proves to be a powerful mentor for Grylls. Over the past two decades, Grylls has created a unique organization that sits somewhere between a cult of personality and his brand of media.
Bear Grylls Inc has multiple television shows, animated films, books, two festivals, adventure camps, theme parks, a mental fitness app, and Becoming X, a coaching company that sells resilience lessons to schools .
All sold under his name, which makes Brando’s own narcissistic whining look like small potatoes. Mr. Grylls’ involvement in two tax evasion schemes and several embarrassing television fabrication scandals has not hindered his rise.
He’s currently in Costa Rica, where filming has begun on Bear Hunt, Netflix’s new adventure format that follows celebrities including Boris Becker and Mel B through the rainforest. Presented by Holly Willoughby.
It’s a big budget, with security alone estimated to cost perhaps £1 million, but Grylls has something that brands don’t. It’s the global reach, the courtesy and respect of his show “Running Wild.” He was awarded the Order of the British Empire and attended his coronation and platinum jubilee.
This new brand is scrubbed clean and appears almost shiny, reflecting a kind of holiness, writes Alison Boshoff
As Chief Scout, he had just held his “King’s Scout Investiture Ceremony” at Windsor Castle last month.
So what, other than God, brought Brando and Grylls together? Both are married with three children, but the similarities end there.
Edward Michael Grylls, unlike his new friend, was a native of this estate. His father is Sir Michael Grylls, a former Conservative MP and former Royal Marine, and his mother is Sally. His older sister Lara started calling him Bear when he was little, and the name stuck.
Bland grew up in Grays, Essex, but Bear was sent to Ludgrove School, where he bit another boy, drawing blood, and was punished by his father with a beating in front of the whole school.
When Brando was young, his father introduced him to sex with two prostitutes in Hong Kong. He was then fired from his then-employer MTV for impersonating Osama bin Laden. However, before being posted to North Africa, Bear began his military career as a reservist with 21 SAS from 1994 to 1997. He was seriously injured in a free-fall parachute accident in Kenya when his parachute failed to open and broke his hip.
Just 18 months later, at the age of 23, he climbed Mount Everest. His first TV documentary on him was in 2005, but his big break came a year later when he was commissioned to film Discovery, which showed Discovery surviving in different difficult parts of the world. It happened in Man Vs Wild.
His macho style, SAS credentials and classy demeanor made it a hit. The obvious and real danger was also a selling point.
And in 2014, he started presenting Running Wild, which features his outings with celebrities. These A-listers included US President Barack Obama and actor Will Ferrell, who famously ate reindeer eyeballs.
But there are also suggestions that the life-or-death challenge may not be as dramatic as it seems.
In 2005, a scandal broke out when it was revealed that footage of Grylls crossing what was described as a dangerous ravine in Man vs. Wild had been carefully filmed to conceal the fact that there was a small drop. . Disclaimer was added later.
In 2007, it was discovered that Grylls was staying at a hotel while filming The Born Survivor. But Baer insisted everything was as it seemed, saying: “We’ve had a lot of incidents and we’ve had a lot of close shaves.”
Alongside his media career, Mr. Grylls also serves on the boards of more than a dozen companies. All of his assets are said to be worth £20 million, all of which come with tax liability.
“It’s depressing to pay 40% income tax when you work so hard and spend so much time away from your family,” Grylls complained in an interview.
In 2012, he was revealed to be one of a number of investors in the shipwreck scheme, which allows backers to claim tax relief. The Times reported that he had invested £749,000.
And in 2015, it was revealed that he was an investor in a green energy scheme that was the subject of an investigation by the tax office. The Future Fuels scheme, run by Future Capital Partners, was a tax-efficient investment opportunity, but it was closed after FCP lost several tax cases.
Grylls and his wife, Shara, live a multinational life with their three sons, Jesse, Marmaduke, and Huckleberry. The couple own a farm in Wiltshire and a £3 million flat at Battersea Power Station.
In addition, he spends four months of the year in Switzerland. Meanwhile, he owns a 20-acre island off the coast of Wales, which has no telephone and requires him to take a seven-mile boat trip to the nearest mainland village.
It’s easy to see why scouts would jump at the chance to have a star player of Grylls’ caliber as chief scout. His most recent five-year term expires this year, and an announcement of his departure appears to be surfacing.
A spokesperson said they were “extremely proud” of their association with Mr. Grills, saying he had been an inspiration to the movement “throughout an unprecedented period of growth,” before adding, “Mr. Bear We will have more information on the next steps later this year.” , as if he were going out.
Perhaps his new friend Russell Brand can advise him on the art of reinvention…
