Katy Perry‘s accusations that ex-husband Russell Brand was “controlling” during their 14-month marriage have resurfaced in the wake of his 10-year prison sentence for a conviction on one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
“[Russell] didn’t like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour,” Perry, 51, recalled in a 2013 interview with Vogue. “So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.”
The “Firework” singer tied the knot with Brand, 51, in India in October 2010, though the relationship imploded just several months later. Perry was filming her 2012 documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me at the very moment Brand texted her in late 2011 to announce that he was filing for divorce.
The Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz-directed movie showed Perry’s raw reaction moments after finding out her marriage was over.
“In the very beginning of me getting into the industry, I would be out and about and I would hear girls, or actresses or musicians or whatever, they would say, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to be in a relationship because I don’t want to have to choose between being in a relationship and having a career,’” Perry remembered. “I thought to myself, ‘Pfft, when I find that person that’s going to be my life partner, I will never have to choose because they’ll be accepting of me completely. … They won’t be threatened or have weird motives.’”
She continued, “[My partner] will be accepting of me, the things I love, the ambition, what I aspire to, what I want to create. They’ll be accepting and supportive. I started to realize, ‘Oh my God, that’s not true. That fairytale I had for me is not true for me right now.’”
Perry insisted in the Part of Me documentary that she’d done “everything it takes to not fail” in her marriage.
“[The marriage] still failed,” she acknowledged. “The bad that comes along with the good is a journey and I learned so much from that journey.”
She elaborated on the breakdown of her marriage in a 2013 Vogue interview, suggesting that it was challenging for Brand to treat her as an “equal.”
“I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they’re like, I can’t handle the equalness,” she pointed out.
Perry hinted that there were aspects of her marriage with Brand that she didn’t necessarily fully understand until she was out of the relationship.
“I felt a lot of responsibility for [the marriage] ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can’t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day,” she teased at the time. “I let go and I was like: This isn’t because of me; this is beyond me.’ So I have moved on from that.”
The musician detailed a hurtful incident that allegedly took place when she surprised Brand at one of his comedy shows, only to discover he was mocking her onstage.
“[He’s] hysterical in some ways. Until he started making jokes about me and he didn’t know I was in the audience, because I had come to surprise him at one of his shows,” she said. “So. Hysterical to a point. I mean, I have to claim my own responsibility in things. I do admit that I was on the road a lot. Although I invited him time and time again, and I tried to come home as much as I possibly could.”
For his part, Brand said in April 2025 that his relationship with Perry faltered because he felt she was “not entirely normal.”
“She’s an extraordinary, massive star — but she’s not weird or off key,” he claimed on his “Stay Free with Russell Brand” podcast. “And wasn’t involved in anything nefarious, as far as I could tell. … The reasons that a marriage didn’t work are the normal human reasons [why] marriages don’t work, and I have nothing but respect for her.”
However, Brand — whose political views have shifted in favor of the far-right in recent years — has been openly dismissive of Perry’s relationship with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling the politician a “globalist stooge.”
“I was OK with Orlando Bloom, but Justin Trudeau? Come on, man! Don’t put me in a category with that guy,” he complained at a Turning Point USA event in December 2025.
On Monday, November 9, Brand was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison after a jury found him guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The comedian was accused by four women of multiple instances of sexual abuse between 2004 and 2009. (Brand’s attorneys successfully convinced the judge to ban the prosecution from mentioning his past marriage to Perry during the trial, per The Telegraph.)
“You were clever — and in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic,” Judge Joel Bennathanou told Brand at his sentencing hearing. “You had also become a sexual predator. Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no and to demand justice from the criminal courts when sexual predators like you, Russell Brand, act without their consent.”
London’s Metropolitan Police subsequently confirmed to Us that Brand remains under investigation for additional rape allegations from two unidentified women.
“The suspect has previously been interviewed under caution in connection with the allegations,” a Met spokesperson stated. “Files have been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to both complainants.”
The organization’s statement continued, “Detectives remain in close contact with prosecutors as enquiries continue and further investigative work is carried out. Anyone who wishes to speak to detectives or make a report can contact the investigation team by email at [email protected].”
Brand has repeatedly denied ever having sexual contact without receiving consent.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
