SHAMELESS self-publicist Russell Brand has rarely missed an opportunity to trade on his notoriety – even during his rape trial.
But the ’s burgeoning business empire – estimated to be worth up to £40million – looks set to crumble as he faces a lengthy prison sentence after being found guilty on one count of rape and three sexual assaults.
They include sexual assaults at a Soho bar and a “violent, sloppy and frenzied” attack at radio station, as well as an assault on a Channel 4 worker who was forced to give him a massage.
He also raped a woman at his Hampstead townhouse in 2009, telling her to “clean up after herself” afterwards, it was found.
He was found not guilty of three other counts – attempted indecent assault and two of rape – but the court heard he would be in for a ‘lengthy sentence.’
Surely that will finally halt the Brand bandwagon which has picked up nearly two million extra online followers since he began appearing at in London in one of the most damning celeb trials of the decade.
He even tempted them onto a video on his Rumble site with an artist’s impression of himself in the dock alongside the caption “this is insane…” before talking about justice.
Dressed in a leopard print dressing gown showing off his chest in Instagram, Facebook and X clips, he also talks of wearing a “belt of truth” ahead of his court appearances.
Recording new content will have to end if Brand is placed behind bars, but some of his ventures could continue even if he is incarcerated.
His social media sites have links to his “premium wellness” brand Reborn, which offers “methylene blue” to “fuel your cells” for £30 a bottle and has a VIP Club membership for up to £37 a month.
Brand is also selling his book How To Become A Christian In 7 Days for £15.
PR consultant Mark Borkowski believes the convicted sex offender will be “defined” by the guilty verdicts no matter what he says.
He tells The Sun: “He is facing a pretty hefty prison sentence. It will be interesting to see how his wife operates after the verdict.
“Will she rebrand it? And will he use his whole community to spin the judgement?
“There are people here who don’t believe in the justice system and that might give him some light.
“But normally a conviction like this is defining of their life.”
Brand has already wound down some of his .
R&L Brand LLP and Stay Free Media were dissolved last year and his wife ’s company Brand New Collective ceased trading this summer.
His TV production company Pablo Diablo’s Legitimate Business Firm Ltd is worth about a quarter as much as it was a year ago.
Its assets were down from £12million to just over £3million according to the most recent accounts.
The couple sold their historic Crown Inn pub in Pishill, Oxfordshire, for £975,000 this year after moving to in the United States in 2025.
Brand and Laura, 38, who is the daughter of Ryder Cup-winning golfer Bernard and sister of presenter Kirsty, live in a bungalow in Santa Rosa Beach with their three children.
There he became pally with the United States Secretary of Health , who shares his vaccine scepticism.
The pair both spoke at the Make America Healthy Again summit at the end of September.
Much of Brand’s latest rebrand is based around his conversion to Christianity with the performer carrying out baptisms and attending church in Florida.
Mark comments: “He has tilted his whole mechanism to America and particularly the whole Christian movement.
“He has a far bigger audience in America than he does in the UK.
“He falls into the info bubble of conspiracy theories that will have the religious right empathising with him.”
The bearded influencer likes to quote from the Bible, while partially dressed or sitting in front of lit candles.
For more than four years Brand has been posting theories which attract millions of viewers, such as suggesting vaccines are linked to autism even though countless medical reports have debunked this dangerous idea.
These provocative notions lead to more clicks and can earn a fortune.
Across several platforms he has 24million followers, which is worth a lot in advertising revenue.
His social media pages also carry links to his wellness firm Reborn by Russell Brand.
One of the products he markets is methylene blue, which he claims “restarts the engine” and “neutralizes the free radicals quietly aging you from the inside out.”
But Dr Hilary Jones tells The Sun that there is no clinical evidence to support these claims.
The popular medic, who has his own podcast The Dr Hilary Show, believes it can be “dangerous” for some users.
He comments: “Like so many of these fads, there are these spurious claims being made that it’s good for energy, that it helps brain function and concentration and focus.
“These claims are totally unsubstantiated. There’s no medical evidence that they are useful in healthy people.
“And indeed, they could be potentially dangerous because they can interact with antidepressants and cause nasty side effects.
“There are some people with enzyme deficiencies and it could destroy their oxygen carrying red blood cells. There are also people who might have an allergic reaction.
“I certainly wouldn’t advise anyone to take it.”
Throughout his career Brand has kept himself in the headlines with .
In his Booky Wook published in 2007 he boasted about his sexual exploits and drug abuse.
But even before five women came forward on a in 2023 to accuse him of sexual and emotional abuse, Brand’s star was waning.
Brand, who shot to fame in the 2008 romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, has not been in a major movie since voicing Nefario in Minions: The Rise of Gru four years ago.
His marriage to pop star , which raised his profile, ended in 2012 after just two years together.
The rape and sex assault allegations led to him leaving for the US.
After the TV expose he was dropped by his agent Angharad Wood and stand-up comedy bookings faltered.
Mark believes that he would have been “persona non-grata” in Britain even if he was cleared of the offences.
Brand’s wife Laura, who took to the witness stand to defend him during the trial, is also a prolific blogger.
It is possible that Brand could be reborn again through her.
But that seems unlikely.
Mark concludes: “Who we should be thinking about today are the victims, because we are too often fixated on the villain. They are the ones who deserve our empathy.
“This was a pivotal trial in the whole #metoo movement.”
