There’s a fairly predictable trajectory for fading movie stars: when no one wants to put you in a mainstream movie, it’s time to start sucking at the teat of Christianity. Actors like Melissa Joan Hart, Kevin Sorbo, and Kirk Cameron have all found limited success by becoming Christian shills. Jesus lovers are always eager to separate themselves from their money anytime someone strokes their ego.

You can now add conspiracy theorist and general douchebag Russell Brand to that rather undistinguished list of hucksters. For the last few years, Russell has found success in conspiracy theories, which tend to attract fringe Christian groups. He’s now made the transition to full on Jesus huckster. I’m sure his pocketbook is thanking him, since no one with half a brain cell ever tunes in to his pathetic attempts to be relevant.

During his early youtube career, Brand was making videos about the importance of meditation, mindfulness, and other topics that attracted very little attention. It was only when he started making dangerously misinformed videos where he questioned the COVID-19 vaccine did he start to gain any traction. This got him roughly 20 times the views, and his channel was finally making him money. He learned quickly that if you want to make bank on the internet, you need to give the people what they want: stoke their fears, speak to their irrationality, and then pretend that all you are doing is for some higher power.

Recently, he’s been accused of sexual assault, and this has spurred him into religious action. The cover of faith is a powerful one, especially when you need a way to wash away all of your sins. It’s a pretty standard M.O. for Americans when they get in trouble. Did you cheat on your wife, or embezzled a bunch of money? Just say you’ve found Jesus and your peers will fall over themselves in order to forgive you. It’s practically a “don’t do jail because religious people are rubes” card, and trust me when I say that grifters like Brand will do just about anything to survive.