Comedian, and actor Russell Brand opened up to Fox News host Sean Hannity about his former addictions and his conversion to Christianity.
According to Fox News, the in-depth, two-part interview details Brand’s journey through his old life of drug and sex addiction and eventually finding faith in Jesus Christ.
Brand told Hannity that despite being sober for 22 years, and converting to Christianity in 2024, faith is essential to overcoming additions.
“You can get attached to and addicted to anything… Unless your personal identity is surrendered to a higher purpose, most obviously and notably, Christ Jesus,” Brand said.
Brand reportedly said he had been arrested over a dozen times, which was directly attributed to his drug addictions. He added that the longer it went on, the less fulfilling his addiction became.
“Like it says in John, there is only one bread that will fulfill you,” Brand said, referring to the book of John in the Bible and the words of Jesus.
Brand said his addictions still remain a focal point of his everyday life.
“Contending with addiction is at the forefront of my life, continually,” Brand said. “Now, since becoming a Christian, I recognize that many of the principles that were made clear to me in twelve-step recovery reach a kind of fulfillment, continuation and elevation of what I was already experiencing. I said to myself, this is what you’re looking for. This is the direction to continue.”
Brand announced on TikTok last May 2024, that he had been baptized and was now a Christian.
“I’ve been a Christian a month now, and it’s been a big change,” Brand posted on TikTok. “Not that I’ve entirely changed as a person, of course I haven’t, but I’ve taken on a lot of new concepts, and it changes you to accept that it’s not like you’re in a game show and by doing really, really good things you can get redeemed.”
Brand noted that he was in a continual battle with himself, but he realized he needed to surrender himself to Jesus.
“No, repentance, to repent, means that you have to continually change and acknowledge that I am in a battle against myself,” Brand said. “That I need to surrender myself to an ever-present eternal and accessible Jesus. That mercy is something that’s been given to me, been granted to me, that I live with through love, not something that I can sort of win or achieve by doing good deeds.”
