Russell Brand’s former personal assistant Jimmy Zona has offered an account of the comedian’s private behavior during his time in Hollywood, suggesting that Brand’s fascination with spirituality and philosophical mysticism may have contributed to what he described as an inflated ego.
Zona worked for Brand in 2011, when the comedian was married to Katy Perry and recalled how Brand presented himself as someone with extraordinary spiritual insight.
“He presented himself as having tremendous wisdom more than anyone had,” Zona said. “And he presented himself as knowing, you know, the truth of the universe almost, right?”
One particular conversation about dogs left a lasting impression on Zona. Brand was discussing the possibility of having puppies when he reportedly told his assistant, “I dislike dogs.” While Brand preferred cats, Zona recalled him making a more unusual claim about dogs’ spiritual standing.
“He said that dogs were the lowest vibration on the planet and that they weren’t even capable, you know, of feeling or pain or anything,” Zona recounted.
Zona suggested the exchange reflected something about his experience working with Brand and how others may have felt around him.
“I think that really speaks to how I feel I was treated and how other people may feel that they were treated by him,” Zona explained. “I think that perhaps the philosophical mysticism he was very into maybe inflated his ego a little bit where he was speaking on things that were a little telling.”
According to Zona, Brand frequently engaged in lengthy discussions about spiritual concepts, including vibrations, while positioning himself as someone with a greater understanding of the universe. He suggested that these beliefs may have reinforced Brand’s tendency to view himself differently from those around him.
Zona also offered his interpretation of Brand’s later baptism and turn toward Christianity, suggesting the comedian may have been seeking forgiveness for his past actions.
“I think relief or seeking some sort of forgiveness from a higher power for what he may have done,” Zona said. “Finding solace in that you know Christianity teaches forgiveness above all else and you will be forgiven.”
He added, “So it’s a convenient stance to take or refuge to find when you’ve done a lot of bad things in your life.”
Brand has also written about his childhood dog, Topsy in an excerpt recounting how he resented her following the arrival of Colin. He described deliberately luring Topsy upstairs despite knowing she was no longer allowed there, only to reprimand her and send her back down before following her and pretending to sympathize.
“Then, when she would slink nervously upward to the forbidden terrain of the upper floor, I would suddenly become Mr. Hyde,” Brand wrote, recalling how he would tell her, “you know perfectly well you’re not allowed upstairs” before cruelly kicking her back down.
He then described rejoining the dog and giving her a sympathetic cuddle, “regretfully muttering, ‘Oh Christ! Were you kicked down the stairs? This is terrible,’” as though he had not been responsible for it himself.
Reflecting on Brand’s public reinventions over the years, Zona described the comedian as having “a messiah complex” and questioned the authenticity of the different identities he had adopted.
“This personality has been hiding behind countless facades,” Zona concluded. “I think that he’s paraded himself around as different people.”
