Piers Morgan Claims Russell Brand Got Too Hands-On in Their Interview

Russell Brand went on Piers Morgan Uncensored to talk faith and ended up going viral for fumbling his way through a Bible reading while Piers looked like he wanted to evacuate his own studio. And that was just the on-camera part. Off-camera (and on X), Morgan said the whole vibe was handsier and holier than he bargained for.

The interview: awkward TV you can feel in your bones

On Friday, April 25, Morgan asked Brand, 50, to share a meaningful Bible verse. Brand said he would read the passage he turned to before a recent court hearing in the U.K., where he is facing charges of rape, sexual assault, and indecent assault tied to allegations from four women, spanning 1999 to 2005. Brand has denied wrongdoing. He did recently tell The Megyn Kelly Show that he slept with a 16-year-old when he was 30, noting it was legal in the U.K. because the age of consent is 16.

Brand pulled out what he said was the same Bible he brought to court and said he wanted a passage from Isaiah. Then he started flipping. And flipping. And flipping. Morgan sat in silence for about a minute and a half while Brand could not find the verse, finally conceding he could not locate the exact one and pivoting to a section from Isaiah 12 instead. The clip blew up online.

Morgan was not loving the vibe

As the clip ricocheted across the internet, Morgan leaned in on X with behind-the-scenes color and some dry shade. He replied to a fan on Monday, April 27 who called Brand’s constant touching during the interview 'extremely condescending' and said, 'a bit weird, yes.' He went further a moment later:

'Never had a guest be so inappropriately tactile during an interview, which surprised me given the allegations against him.'

Morgan also posted an awkward photo taken before they rolled, showing Brand with a hand on his shoulder, appearing to say a blessing. Morgan’s caption: he 'knew' it would be an 'interesting experience' when Brand insisted on praying for both of them first. He later twisted the knife with: 'The pre-show prayer was almost as excruciating as the extended Bible-rustling…'

Brand circles back and finds the verse

On Sunday, April 26, Brand jumped on X to explain that he had in fact marked the verse he meant to read during Piers Morgan Uncensored. He then read from Isaiah 43:18-19: 'Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.'

From there he got philosophical, asking followers if what they are personally facing lines up with something bigger and cultural — calling the current moment a kind of wasteland. He pointed at the political climate globally and domestically, said it is not exactly a banner era, compared it to the Roaring '20s sandwiched between wars, and suggested that from a macro or spiritual angle, the world has always lived in that tension — which, he argued, is exactly what Isaiah is getting at.

Quick timeline

• Friday, April 25: On Piers Morgan Uncensored, Brand fails to find his chosen verse, stalls for roughly 90 seconds, and ends up reading from Isaiah 12. The clip goes viral.
• Sunday, April 26: Brand posts on X, says the verse was marked all along, and reads Isaiah 43:18-19, then riffs about the world-as-wasteland moment we are living in.
• Monday, April 27: Morgan replies to fans on X, calling Brand 'inappropriately tactile' and sharing that pre-show prayer photo, plus a jab about the 'Bible-rustling.'

For what it is worth, Brand’s team has been asked for comment.