Content area
Full text
Brand has slowly evolved from an anti-establishment comedian into an anti-woke podcaster
Once known for the comedy which he used to skewer the political establishment in the early-2010s, how has Russell Brand evolved into an anti-woke podcast hero of the alt-right with a subscriber base of 6.59m on YouTube?
Brand grew up in Essex with his mother after his parents separated when he was six months old. He was diagnosed with ADHD and developed bulimia at 14. At 16, after disagreements with his mother’s boyfriend, Brand left the family home and began taking drugs. In 1991, he was accepted into Italia Conti drama school on a scholarship from Essex County Council but was expelled due to drug use and poor attendance.
Brand made it onto the London and Edinburgh comedy scene in 2000, aged 25, and began a presenting career with a stint on MTV’s Dancefloor Chart where he toured clubs in London and Ibiza, projecting himself as a figure of anarchic mirth. He has always courted controversy and was fired after coming to work dressed...