Russell Brand quips 'am I allowed to say that?' as he makes Katy Perry sex joke

left fans stunned after cracking a sex joke about ex-wife on his Rumble podcast and questioning whether such humour is still allowed amid his ongoing criminal charges. The disgraced comedian, 49, who has been charged with multiple sexual offences, shared a clip from his podcast alongside the caption: "When I was married to Katy Perry, we had to deal with the paparazzi constantly. They're incredibly annoying; it's hard to resist smacking them in the mouth."

In the clip, he goes on to say: "when you're married to a woman, you think 'I've got to protect this woman' and there's always people around us and the paparazzi is so annoying. I tell you now, I wanna smack them in the mouth. It's so hard not to." But the conversation quickly took a turn when Brand began responding to fan questions and comments about his previous marriage to the pop star. "I want you to elaborate on that marriage," one viewer asked. Brand replied: "What do you mean? Ask me a question, what do you want to know?"

He then read out another comment: "Russell's ex almost went to outer space." Grinning, he fired off a flirtatious nod and joked: "Hey, all my exes go to space," bursting into laughter - a clear innuendo seemingly implying his bedroom prowess is other-worldly.

Not stopping there, he then asked viewers: "Can I do this kind of joke anymore? 'Hey every lady I've ever known got a trip to space' - can you do that after the charges? I don't know, let me know in the comments, is it ok to have a joke anymore?"

The segment wrapped with Brand adding a cryptic religious angle: "Do we believe in freedom? Are we entitled to the redemption of the holy father?"

The eyebrow-raising comments come amid serious criminal charges against the former Get Him to the Greek actor.

Last month, Brand was formally charged with two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault. The alleged offences span from 1999 to 2005.

He has not entered a plea and has denied the allegations made against him.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ordered Brand to appear at London's Central Criminal Court (The Old Bailey) on May 30, granting him bail on the condition that he keeps the court informed of his location - whether he's staying in the UK or in the US, where he currently resides in Florida. Failure to comply could result in jail time.

Brand's comments about Perry are just the latest in a series of headline-grabbing moments tied to their brief but highly public marriage.

The pair met in 2009, got engaged within months, and tied the knot in a lavish Hindu ceremony in India in October 2010. But just 14 months later, Brand filed for divorce - reportedly by text. The split was finalised in 2012.

In a Vogue interview, Perry later said: "Let's just say I haven't heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me."