Russell Brand announces he is getting baptized as a Christian, describing it as an 'opportunity to leave the past behind'

• Russell Brand is getting baptized after spending several months exploring the Christian faith.

• Brand, who was previously Buddhist, said he saw baptism as an opportunity "to die and be reborn."

• Brand's gravitation toward religion comes in the wake of several  allegations of sexual assault.

British comedian and actor turned political influencer Russell Brand has announced his plans to be baptized, culminating a monthslong journey exploring the Christian faith.

"This Sunday, I'm taking the plunge," Brand said in a video shared to X on Friday. "I'm getting baptized."

He said that baptism had been explained to him 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," he continued. "That you can live as an enlightened and awakened person."

The media personality said that he was "thinking about doing it in the River Thames" — recently found to have high levels of E.Coli — ending the video: "I may be leaving behind the sins, but I might be picking up some pretty serious viruses."

Starting in December 2023, the 48-year-old has published several photos and videos on his social media profiles discussing his relationship with Christianity.

In a video from January, he explained why he had begun wearing a crucifix, stating that the figure of Christ was "inevitably" becoming "more important" to him.

"I suppose it takes a certain amount of adulthood, and it might be different for all of us — for me, it seems that it's taken quite a lot — to recognize that you need — I need — a personal relationship with God," he said at the time.

In other videos published since then, Brand has shown himself praying with a Rosary and discussing his sacrifice of giving up sugar during Lent. In mid-March, the "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" actor shared his intentions of getting baptized.

Brand's gravitation toward the Christian faith has come in the wake of numerous accusations of sexual assault, which came to light in September 2023 from a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4's "Dispatches."

Four women, one of whom was 16 at the time, alleged that Brand sexually assaulted them between 2006 and 2013.

Two months later, another woman brought a lawsuit against Brand, claiming that he exposed himself and assaulted her on the set of the 2011 film "Arthur."

In response to the allegations, Brand has denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that although he was "very, very promiscuous" in the past, all of his sexual relationships were "always consensual."

Before his pivot toward Christianity, Brand identified as a Buddhist and was interested in the Hare Krishna Movement.

In recent years, Brand has also established himself as a social media influencer in the conspiracy theory sphere with posts about COVID-19, free speech, and the war in Ukraine to his 13m subscribers to his accounts on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and the right-wing streaming site Rumble.

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