Revealed: Exactly how much money scandal-hit Russell Brand has made in the last year - as I expose his VERY surprising new living arrangements: RICHARD EDEN
His spiritual safari led to his baptism in the Thames last year, leaving him, he said, feeling ‘incredibly blessed’ and ‘nourished’ – as well as the beneficiary of a manly hug from the very embodiment of muscular Christianity, Bear Grylls.
But finding his ‘path’, as Russell Brand described his religious awakening, has not blunted his talent for secular success nor, in particular, caused him to forsake the ways of Mammon. Indeed, I can disclose that the coarse-grained comedian turned ‘thought leader’ has added some £3 million to his fortune in the past financial year.
A dazzling performance at any time – especially for someone who, in 2013, told Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight that ‘profit is a filthy word’ – it’s even more remarkable given the 49-year-old’s personal difficulties.
These, of course, stem from allegations by a number of women, who have variously accused him of rape, sexual assault and ‘emotional abuse’ – all of which he vehemently denies – thereby prompting an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. The force is said to have handed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service last November after a 13-month investigation.
While the Met probe was under-way, Brand’s primary source of income – from advertisements on his YouTube channel – was cut off, after the video-sharing platform ruled the broadcaster had violated its ‘creator responsibility policy’.
That might have stopped others in their tracks – but not Brand, who now posts his videos on Rumble, a detail noted in accounts filed this week at Companies House.
Comedian turned ‘thought leader’ Russell Brand earns his money by posting videos on Rumble
Brand, right, is baptised in the Thames last year by Bear Grylls, far left
Rumble, which prides itself on being ‘immune from cancel culture’, has evidently delivered the goods: accounts for Brand’s main production company, Pablo Diablo’s Legitimate Business Firm Ltd, show that it has now amassed more than £8 million – more than £3 million up on the year before.
Little wonder that Brand, who in 2016 shelled out £3.3million for a six-bedroom house on the Thames, is now said to be ensconced, with wife Laura and their three children, in a £1.9million beachside bungalow in north-west Florida – the state where Rumble has its US HQ.
Best known as wholesome housewife Barbara in classic 1970s sitcom The Good Life, Felicity Kendal enjoys leading her off-screen grandchildren astray.
The actress, 78, who has two sons and 12 grandchildren, including those of her sister, Jennifer, who died at the age of 51, says: ‘I love being a grandmother because I can be bad with them and go shopping and smoke cigarettes and drink too much.’
Why you mess with Moss at your peril...
Lottie Moss at the screening of Celebrity Bear Hunt in London
Lottie Moss suffered a painful fall-out with her family after they were left in ‘turmoil’ when she started stripping off for adult subscription website OnlyFans, after her move to Los Angeles in 2021.
But the half-sister of Kate Moss has impressed them by taking part in Celebrity Bear Hunt, in which 12 famous figures are tracked down by Bear Grylls in the Costa Rican jungle and eliminated from the contest if they are not up to scratch.
‘My family are so proud of me,’ Lottie, 27, tells me at the London premiere in Leicester Square. ‘They were all so supportive that I was going to appear on this.’
She says of her newfound skills: ‘Throw me in the jungle now and I know how to survive.
‘I know how to make a fire from scratch, and I can abseil down a cliff.’
The adventure was of great concern to Lottie’s Norwegian mother, Inger, the second wife of travel agent Peter, who is also Kate’s father.
‘I told my mum afterwards what I had done and she said, “I would have never let you go if you were going to do that kind of stuff”.’
Churchill's barge finds safe harbour
The future of MV Havengore, the funeral barge which bore Sir Winston Churchill’s coffin along the Thames as cranes dipped in an unscripted final salute, has hung in the balance.
Its dedicated owner, Chris Ryland, died last year after struggling to sell the vessel amid untenable maintenance costs.
Now, however, I can reveal that the Havengore is in the capable hands of Michael Harrison, Ryland’s friend and colleague, who has it safely moored in Ramsgate Harbour, Kent, easing fears it would eventually fall into disrepair or foreign ownership.
‘We keep a regular eye on it and look after it to make sure it doesn’t deteriorate,’ says Harrison, managing director of Gardner Marine Diesels. ‘Everyone loves it in Ramsgate. It gets a lot of attention.’
Top civil servants including Cabinet Office boss Cat Little and media mastermind Kate Taylor Tett are just back from a splashy ‘global government summit’ in Singapore.
The Starmer government sent the largest delegation to the schmooze-in for international pen-pushers, run by former Cabinet Secretary Lord (Gus) O’Donnell.
Few other first-division countries bothered. Little and Taylor Tett rubbed shoulders with bureaucratic giants from Bhutan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Moldova. The summit was co-sponsored by management consultants Accenture, one of whose chaps was a Mr Pong. With a name like that he should be working in Whitehall.
Meghan's proud ex-husband shows off new son, Logan
Trevor Engelson, Tracey Kurland and their first son Logan
His marriage to Meghan Markle ended in divorce after just three years, but Trevor Engelson has found happiness with his second wife, Tracey Kurland.
The dietitian, 38, whom he married in 2019, has just given birth to their first son.
‘We are so proud to introduce the world to Logan Stanford Engelson,’ the American film producer, 48, writes from Beverly Hills, where he shared this photo of him smiling at his wife’s bedside as she cradles her boy. The couple have two daughters aged three and four. He adds: ‘I lay in awe of my bad-ass wife who somehow pulls this all off with grace and composure.’
Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, once said: ‘I really liked Trevor. I don’t think he ever understood why she dumped him either.’
