Comedian and author Russell Brand — who has just denied "very serious allegations" related to past relationships — is best known for his controversial opinions and philosophical thoughts, but behind the outspoken, eccentric Brit has been his wife of seven years, Laura.
Who is Russell's wife and how did they meet?
Laura Brand, formerly known as Laura Gallacher, is the daughter of golfer Bernard Gallacher and the sister of sports commentator Kirsty Gallacher. Now 36, Laura used to work in the restaurant industry and has since created the online shop The Joy Journal, a brand that sells unique jeans. Reportedly the couple began dating on and off in 2007, and got back together in 2015.
When was their wedding?
The radio host, now 48, proposed to Laura in July 2016, five years after he famously separated from Katy Perry after 14 months of marriage. Russell and Laura tied the knot in August 2017, with the pair celebrating at an Indian-themed wedding reception close to the couple's home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxford.
Shortly after their wedding, the actor revealed on his Radio X podcast that he was "living a married life now…I'm domestic."
The couple married in August 2017
Do they have children together?
Russell and Laura have two children together.Their daughter Mabel was born in November 2016 and in July 2018, the couple welcomed their second child, Peggy, just a month after announcing the surprise pregnancy.
Back in 2017, the proud father opened up to Stellar magazine about life as a dad, explaining: "She grabs my face, closes her first and twists it. I quite like that. Nothing she does annoys me. It's a lack of control: she'll punch and I'll surrender".
During an appearance on ITV's Lorraine in 2017, shortly after the birth of Mabel, Russell revealed: "It's so extraordinary to find such comfort and peace in a way, things are obvious, getting married, having baby, I feel very relaxed, surprised but relaxed," he said.
"I was watching my wife singing to our daughter, I thought wow this is happening, I am the father in this relationship, it felt beautiful."
Was Russell Brand accused of rape?
Five women have accused comedian Russell of sexual assault and rape, as well as coercive and emotional abuse. The report was published on September 15, 2023.
The allegations date from between 2006 and 2013 during the height of Russell's career; one of the women claims that she first met the comedian when she was 16 and entered into a three-month-long relationship with him.
Two other women claimed that he attacked them when he lived in Los Angeles, with one saying she was treated in a rape crisis centre on the same day and that he had sent her text messages saying he was "very sorry" when she texted him to say: "When a girl say[s] NO it means no."
The third said that Russell threatened to take legal action against her if she went public with her allegations.
What did Russell Brand say about the rape allegations?
"These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. As I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now, during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual," Russell said in a YouTube video on the eve before the claims were shared publicly.
"I was always transparent about that then – almost too transparent – and I'm being transparent about it now as well. And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question: Is there another agenda at play? It feels to me like there's a serious and concerted agenda to control these kinds of spaces and these kinds of voices."
He added that there are "witnesses whose evidence directly contradicts the narratives that these two mainstream media outlets are trying to construct," and that he would not share further details due to the seriousness of the allegations.
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