Katy Perry allegedly referred to ex-husband Russell Brand as “Rasputin” years before sexual abuse allegations against the comedian came to light.
Piers Morgan claimed in a column for the Sun that he was chatting with the “Firework” songstress about her failed marriage with Brand in 2013.
When he asked to interview Perry about her recent divorce, she told him she was “not ready” to speak about it just yet.
“Because you’ll get the truth out of me, and I’m just not ready to tell you the truth! In fact, I’m not sure I’m ready to admit the truth to myself,” Perry, 38, explained.
“You Brits are all the same, so damn confident. Trouble is, I find that irresistible. I love Brits … well, not all of them. Not Rasputin, obviously.”
Perry — who finalized her divorce from Brand in 2012 — was referring to Grigori Rasputin, a controversial, sex-crazed Russian mystic who died in 1916. He allegedly had an “insatiable sex drive,” according to the book “Rasputin: A Short Life” by Frances Welch.
At the time of the interview, Morgan didn’t press the “I Kissed a Girl” singer on why she gave Brand the nickname. However, Morgan alleged that Brand seemed “thrilled” about the moniker when he later shared the news with the “Get Him to the Greek” star — and that they even laughed about it.
The journalist claimed that Brand eagerly replied, “GRIGORI RASPUTIN! He was a pretty powerful bloke, he could manipulate folks with his eyes.
“I like Rasputin … he was all right, wasn’t he … a mad monk with magical, mystical powers, having it off with everyone, drinking and getting into fights.”
In light of Brand’s rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse allegations that came to light earlier this month, Morgan is rethinking their conversation.
Several women — who have kept their identities hidden — made the bombshell allegations in an exposé published by the Sunday Times and the Channel 4 “Dispatches” film, “Russell Brand: In Plain Sight.”
The accusers claimed the alleged incidents occurred from 2006 to 2013. One of the women accused Brand of being “emotionally abusive and controlling” with her when she was only 16 years old and he was 31.
After the unnamed woman told him that she was only 16, he allegedly replied, “I don’t give a f-k if you’re 12 … I need to know where I stand legally.”
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A second woman claimed that the “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” star raped her “against a wall” in 2012 at his Los Angeles home.
Meanwhile, a third accuser claimed she was fully clothed when a naked Brand attempted to assault her.
“I saw something come over his eyes, I swear to God, like, black, his eyes had no more color, they were black, like the devil. Like a different person literally entered his body,” she recalled to the Sunday Times.
Brand has vehemently denied the accusations and referred to them as a “litany of egregious and aggressive attacks.”
“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous,” he said in a video posted to Instagram last Friday.
He maintained that his relationships have been “absolutely, always consensual,” and that he was “always transparent about that.”
“To see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question, is there another agenda at play?” he wondered.
Since the bombshell exposé made headlines, several questionable clips of him have resurfaced. His UK comedy tour has been postponed, YouTube has suspended him from making money and his memoir has been stalled.
Brand’s rep and Perry’s rep didn’t immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
