Bear Grylls addresses Russell Brand conviction after helping baptise him

Bear Grylls has spoken out about disgraced comedian Russell Brand's rape conviction, two years after he helped baptise him.

The TV adventurer has come under fire online over his connection to Brand, who was found guilty of one rape charge and three counts of sexual assault on Thursday.

Grylls, who is a devout Christian, helped baptise the actor in London's River Thames in 2024, several months after Brand was accused of rape and sexual assault in a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches.

Addressing the baptism on X on Friday, Grylls wrote, "Brand's faith seemed genuine to me at the time when I was a guest at his private baptism. I have attended a few now. Even visiting in prisons with people who have committed terrible crimes. It's part of our calling as men and women of faith, to love and serve anyone. It is the sick that need healing. Judgement is for the courts and God... I wouldn't want to ever discourage someone's coming to faith."

Responding to the conviction, he added, "It is right that justice has now been served. I can't imagine how hard this time has been for the victims, the heroes of the day."

The adventurer, real name Edward Michael Grylls, also filmed an episode of his TV show, Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, with Brand in 2023, several weeks before the Dispatches documentary aired.

On Thursday, after a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court, the jury also acquitted the Forgetting Sarah Marshall actor of two other rape charges and one count of attempted indecent assault.

The 51-year-old, who had denied all the allegations, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on Monday.

After the verdict, a spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police announced they are investigating further rape allegations against Brand from two women.