Hallow cuts ties with Russell Brand after actor, Christian convert charged with rape

(OSV News) -- Russell Brand, a British actor and comedian who promoted the Hallow prayer app and interviewed Bishop Robert E. Barron has been charged with rape and other sexual offenses. In the wake of these charges, the popular prayer app announced it has cut ties with Brand.

"We are no longer advertising on Russell's show," Alex Jones, CEO and cofounder of Hallow, told OSV News in a statement provided April 7.

Russell Brand is facing two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault, the Metropolitan Police Service of the United Kingdom announced April 4.

The charges, which relate to four separate women, stem from alleged incidents dating to 1999, 2001 and 2004-2005, according to police.

Brand is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 2. He has publicly denied the charges.

In April 2024, the actor and comedian -- who by his own admission was "for a long time associated with a decadent, hedonistic, Hollywood lifestyle" -- posted a social media video of his baptism in the River Thames.

He went on to promote the Hallow app in a social media video posted by the company, saying he would "thoroughly recommend" the app, and describing Hallow talent Father Mike Schmitz as "a good geezer" who "speaks so quickly."

The informal promotion led to an actual advertising partnership that saw Hallow advertising on Brand's podcast, hosted on the Rumble streaming platform.

In July 2024, Brand took to his channel to interview Bishop Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, and is the founder of Word on Fire Ministries.

In the lead-up to Hallow's decision to part ways with Brand, Jones told The Pillar in November 2024 that if charges were filed, "We would obviously take it very seriously. It would be a really important development."

Jones cited among the possible considerations "how (Brand) responds publicly, what he says, and what the facts of the case end up being."

He also told The Pillar that in any case, Hallow would factor in the impact of possible scandal in making a decision.

"We obviously want to have a spirit of forgiveness and a spirit of being open to real, authentic conversion and repentance, but at the same time have to be prudential in making sure that no one feels that the Church is continuing to not take abuse seriously," Jones told The Pillar.

After the charges were announced, Brand posted videos on Instagram thanking fans for their support, and denying the charges.

"I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord," said Brand. "I was a drug addict, a sex addict and an imbecile. But what I never was, was a rapist. I've never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes."

Following a flurry of celebrities embracing Catholicism last year, evangelization experts told OSV News that such conversions can be both an inspiration and a call to caution, as fame can obscure the failings of individuals and the inherent struggles of the conversion process.