Look back at Katy Perry and Russell Brand's short lived marriage

Katy Perry and Russell Brand's short-lived marriage will forever be one in the celebrity history books.  

They were both at the peak of their careers when they met; Katy, an international pop star known for her bubblegum earworms and quirky fashion choices, and Russell, a 35-year-old British comedian who was famous for his flamboyant persona and willingness to openly discuss his drug addictions and promiscuity.They had a ten-year age gap and after a whirlwind romance were married just over a year after they met. 

© Yui Mok - PA Images

But it wasn't to last, and the extremely unlikely pair split 14 months later, with Russell infamously texting her in a moment caught on camera.

When did Katy Perry and Russell Brand date?

They were both at the height of stardom in 2009 when Katy, then 25, filmed a cameo appearance for his film Get Him to the Greek. They met again later that year at the  2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and soon began dating.

© Anthony Harvey

Three months later, on December 31, 2009, while vacationing in India, Russell proposed and the pair planned their wedding for 10 months later. 

Did Katy Perry and Russell Brand marry? 

The pair tied the knot at the Ranthambore Tiger Sanctuary in Rajasthan, India on October 23 2010. The ceremony was held at a luxury resort in the reserve, and was attended by only close family and friends. 

They had both reportedly become devout worshippers of Lord Ganesha, one of the most sacred and popular Gods of Hindu culture, and a Hindu priest wed the pair, whose celebrations spanned six days. 

Both Russell and Katy wore traditional Indian clothes to the wedding, wit the singer and her female guests all wearing saris and having henna designs applied on their palms and hands. 

© Jon Kopaloff

Did Russell Brand file for divorce from Katy Perry? 

Fourteen months after their wedding, Russell filed for divorce from Katy in December 2011 which he told Katy about via text message. 

That moment was documented on camera and appeared in the 2012 documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me. 

What did Katy Perry say about Russell Brand? 

"He’s a very smart man, a magical man and I was in love with him when I married him,." she told Vogue in 2013. "At first when I met him, he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they’re like, I can’t handle the equalness. He didn’t like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting."

She added: "Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me." 

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Katy also called their romance "interesting and stimulating," in 2020 during a 60 Minutes special, and added: "It was just like a tornado, it was everything happening at once." 

What did Russell Brand say about Katy Perry? 

"Some aspects of it were, like, amazing," Russell told Bear Grylls in August, during an appearance on Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge. "She's an amazing person, and it was kind of incredible to live for a moment in that eye of the cyclone-type aspect of fame." 

He added: "Aside from my sort of feelings of affection for Katy, it's a time that I remember being a little bit chaotic and a bit, for me, to speak for myself, a little disconnected. I loved her so much, it just seemed like the sensible thing to do [when we got married]." 

But once they were married, he admitted that he recognized that it "isn't really working out" and that it was a "difficult situation".

© Jeff Spicer

"I was really, really in love with her, but it was difficult to see each other.," he told Howard Stern in July 2012, only days after their divorce was finalized. 

"We were together when it was right to be together, and when it wasn't we worked it out. It was a lovely relationship, it mostly didn't work for practical reasons." 

Who is Katy Perry married to now? 

Katy, 38, is engaged to Orlando Bloom and the pair are parents to three-year-old daughter Daisy. Katy is also helping to raise Orlando's son Flynn whom he shares with ex-wife Miranda Kerr; Miranda and Katy are good friends.

Orlando and Katy first met in 2016 at that year's Golden Globe awards ceremony, after bonding over an In N Out burger Katy claims Orlando stole from her table at the afterparty. They split in 2017 but a year later rekindled their romance and on Valentine's Day 2019, the Hollywood actor popped the question with a daisy-shaped ring. 

Who is Russell Brand married to now? 

© BG002/Bauer-Griffin

Russell is married to wife Laura, the daughter of golfer Bernard Gallacher and the sister of British sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher.

The couple began casually dating in 2007, before he met Katy, but they hit it off again in 2015. They married in August 2017, with the pair celebrating at an Indian-themed wedding reception close to the couple's home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxford. Their daughter Mabel was born in November 2016 and in July 2018, the couple welcomed their second child, Peggy.'

Was Russell Brand accused of rape?

A joint investigation from the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, published on September 15, 2023, saw five women accuse comedian Russell of sexual assault and rape, as well as coercive and emotional abuse.

The allegations date from between 2006 and 2013 during the height of Russell's career, when he was a popular BBC and Channel 4 presenter, the star of Hollywood films such as Get Him to the Greek and the Despicable Me franchise.

Did Russell Brand deny the rape allegations?

© Gareth Cattermole

"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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