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Russell Brand speaks onstage in 2025 before his trial and conviction.
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Katy Perry’s Nickname for her Troubled Ex-Husband, Russell Brand, is Telling

It is no laughing matter for British comedian Russell Brand these days. A judge has sentenced him to “significant” prison time after he was convicted last week. While his legal troubles and 10-year prison sentence continue to dominate headlines, critics are also digging into his past, including his short-lived marriage to Katy Perry. An old …
by Andrea Francese
Published on
2 min read

It is no laughing matter for British comedian Russell Brand these days. A judge has sentenced him to “significant” prison time after he was convicted last week. While his legal troubles and 10-year prison sentence continue to dominate headlines, critics are also digging into his past, including his short-lived marriage to Katy Perry. An old nickname she used for Brand is drawing new attention, and for good reason.

Amid the coverage of Brand’s legal troubles, Perry’s past comments about their brief marriage have resurfaced, including a striking nickname she once used for him: “Rasputin.” According to British TV personality Piers Morgan, Perry called her ex-husband Rasputin during a conversation with him at a 2013 Vanity Fair party. Morgan brought up the nickname again in 2023, recalling the moment in a column for The Sun.

The name refers to Grigori Rasputin, the Russian mystic whose influence over the family of Tsar Nicholas II made him a notorious historical figure. Morgan described Rasputin as “fiercely intelligent,” “manipulative,” and “controlling.” That characterization reads much differently today, given the comedian’s recent headlines.

At the time, though, Brand was totally fine with the nickname and its seemingly derogatory connotations. According to Morgan, Brand was “thrilled” when he heard it and said, “I like Rasputin… he was all right, wasn’t he… a mad monk with magical, mythical powers having it off with everyone, drinking and getting into fights.”

Katy Perry has called out Russell Brand for being ‘very controlling’ other times, too

Perry and Brand’s marriage was short-lived. They were married for just 14 months, from 2010 to 2011, and their divorce was finalized in 2012. Despite the short nature of the relationship, it left an impression on Perry, who has previously described Brand’s behavior during their marriage as “very controlling” and said the experience was deeply upsetting for her.

Social media users have also been revisiting old public moments between the pair. One resurfaced clip shows Brand flashing a tag bearing the word “Obey” at Perry. One person remarked that Perry had “dodged a nuke when she divorced him.”

Perry has not publicly commented on Brand’s conviction. After her marriage to Brand ended, she moved on with Orlando Bloom. The couple got engaged and welcomed a daughter together but never made it down the aisle. They split in 2025. Perry has since gone public with her relationship with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Brand, for his part, has since remarried, and his wife, Laura Brand, remains by his side. She has been in the courtroom during the proceedings and has arrived for his sentencing. The couple shares three children. They wed in 2017.

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