Christians living in a wealthy part of Florida’s conservative Panhandle secretly distrust their new neighbor, actor Russell Brand, who they believe is staging his religious conversion, according to sources who spoke to the Daily Mail.
Russell Brand moved to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, where he is often welcomed by selfie-seeking locals and church crowds intrigued by the British celebrity having become a born-again Christian — but privately, the vibe is not all that it seems, a source told Daily Mail.
“Most people down here are fairly publicly okay with him, just because everybody wants him to come where they are for the publicity,” Josh Parish, a Christian realtor and longtime resident of the affluent Florida community told the outlet.
“In private conversation, they probably have a lot more pushback,” he added.
Parish further surmised that the Forgetting Sarah Marshall star is relying heavily on his celebrity status, evangelical talking points, and publicly disseminating emotional confessions in order to charm conservative Christians who would otherwise be appalled by his past.
“It’s a show. He’s a charlatan, a snake-oil salesman. You can see the tactics he’s utilizing,” Parish said of Brand to the Daily Mail.
Some locals of Santa Rosa Beach — also known as “the Hamptons of the South” — have reportedly embraced Brand, whom they find to be charismatic, energetic, and warm in person.
But many longtime residents find it difficult to square the actor’s fervent public sermons with his earlier reputation as one of Britain’s most infamous celebrities, known for his overt sexual exploits, Parish said.
Brand — previously known as an anti-capitalist and atheist — has reshaped his pubic image in recent years, and is now widely seen as a Christian, populist, and anti-establishment commentator who is friendly with the MAGA movement.
Locals can reportedly catch the Get Him to the Greek star riding his bicycle along Florida’s Emerald Coast while enthusiastically shouting “God bless you!” to strangers strolling through wealthy neighborhoods, residents told Daily Mail.
The sources added that Brand preaches at local churches and hosts baptisms in the Gulf of America. Meanwhile, the actor has been promoting his new spiritual memoir, How to Become a Christian in Seven Days.
“He has invaded the Florida Panhandle and is grifting MAGA bible thumpers daily,” another resident, Sara Sol Flame, told Daily Mail.
Flame, who expressed concern about Brand’s influence on her conservative Christian neighbors, went on to assert that the British comedian is “leaching his way from Panama City Beach to Pensacola.”
“Most of us despise his presence in the area,” she said.
Concerns surrounding Brand reportedly intensified after he was accused by multiple women of rape and assault between 1999 and 2009 — and while the 50-year-old actor prepares to stand trial over the allegations in London this October.
Brand has denied all allegations.
Sources say conservative Christians in Florida became even more alarmed earlier this year, after the Mud star publicly admitted that he slept with a 16-year-old girl when he was 30 years old.
Brand acknowledged the relationship during an interview with Megyn Kelly in April, referring to himself as “selfish,” “wrong,” and “exploitative” — while also noting that 16 is the legal age of consent in the UK.
“If you’re a grown individual having sex with children, that’s not cool at all,” Parish told Daily Mail.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.