‘I can knock Stephen Hawking out of his wheelchair!’ Russell Brand boasts he’s more intelligent than the professor… as he speaks of death threats over political stance
By RYAN SMITH FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13:34, 10 April2020 | UPDATED: 16:51, 10 April2020
While Russell Brand has often stirred the pot of controversy with his outbursts, the comedian may have taken things a step too far while light-heartedly assessing his own intelligence.
During an appearance on Friday’s instalment of Alan Carr: Chatty Man, the comedian spoke about landing fourth place on Prospect Magazine‘s list of the UK’s top thinkers, asserting that he’s more intelligent than Professor Stephen Hawking.
And as he spoke of the celebrated physicist, who is wheelchair-bound due to motor neurone disease, Russell jokingly scoffed of his honour: ‘It’s not even a medal! I have top notch thoughts. I can knock Hawking out of his chair. I am just drifting through life and trying my hardest.’
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Bad choice of words? During an appearance on Friday’s Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Russell Brand joked that he ‘can knock Stephen Hawking out of his wheelchair’ in terms of intelligence
He soon turned the mockery on himself, adding: ‘I am the only person to win Shagger of the Year and be on any kind of thinking list. I am lucky to be on a list but not in a register. I bounce up and down all kinds of lists.’
And while he may be hovering among the elite on one renowned list, Russell, who has styled himself as something of a revolutionary, admitted that his outspokenness on politics has made him a target of death threats.
When asked if his strong stance against the practices of the banks had led to any threats on his life, he responded: ‘No more than usual. The death threats have not spiked particularly.
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Celebrated: Professor Stephen Hawking has been bound to a wheelchair for decades due to motor neurone disease, but is still celebrated as one of Britain’s greatest minds
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‘We are always sort of a bit nervous when we are at home like, "What if I get bumped off?" But if you are with people who believe the same things as you it is sort of alright.
‘I am not saying mad, crazy out there stuff. These things happen in other countries too. I don’t blame individuals anymore as there is an institutionalised thinking that has come all over us and it started in the ’80s.’
Russell has teamed up with film-maker Michael Winterbottom for upcoming ********ary The Emperor’s New Clothes, which questions bailouts during the financial crisis and bankers’ bonuses.
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Threats: During his interview with host Alan Carr, Russell also spoke about receiving death threats in reaction to his stance against the practices of the government and banks
Russell Brand argues with heckler outside RBS in London
He said of the project: ‘This film is making the point that what the financial industry done was a rip off and a con and we bailed them out with public money. Our government obviously facilitated that.
‘No one asked us. Someone said do you want to bail the banks out so this film delineates and explains that in a really easy to understand way. Plus I did good stunts in it and things like that.’
During his appearance on the Channel 4 show, the star took aim at Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, attacking a recent photograph released of him feeding a lamb at a farm.
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Not joining the flock: Russell also attacked a recently released image of Prime Minister David Cameron feeding an orphaned lamb at a farm near the village of Chadlington
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He ranted: ‘These things are carefully managed. The lamb image is to show him nurturing. It is for us to think, "Perhaps he will nurture us", but he won’t.
‘In reality that bottle is full of money going into a banker’s mouth while he s**t into a disabled person’s face.’
Read more: Russell Brand boasts he’s more intelligent than Stephen Hawking | Daily Mail Online