Russell Brand was seen holding up a card bearing the word “Obey” towards Katy Perry on the Oscars red carpet in an unsettling video from 2010.
The convicted rapist appeared alongside his then-wife, the pop star Katy Perry, during an interview with a GMTV reporter at the event.
As Perry jokingly accused her husband of not watching the ceremony, Brand denied it before reprimanding her for swearing.
He then displayed a small card reading “Obey” to the camera before walking away, leaving Perry to complete the interview alone.
Some social media users interpreted the logo, which belonged to a clothing brand, as a public assertion of control over his then-wife.
Perry appeared visibly unsettled by the exchange and became noticeably quieter during the final moments, when she was left standing with the reporter.
The footage has resurfaced as the singer reportedly prepares to discuss her “dark marriage” to the disgraced comedian and actor in a forthcoming book and docuseries.
The couple were married for 14 months, from 2010 until their divorce in 2011. Perry has maintained what fans have described as a “dignified silence” ever since.
Russell Brand and Katy Perry speaking to GMTV on the Oscars red carpet in 2010
After telling his wife to stop swearing, Brand displayed an “Obey” logo towards the camera
In the interview, Brand can be seen walking along the red carpet with Perry and holding her hand while carrying a small piece of paper.
The reporter asked: “What did you think of the whole shebang?”
Perry immediately interrupted with a playful remark to her husband: “You didn’t watch it.”
Apparently unimpressed by the joke, Brand began describing a part of the ceremony he claimed to have enjoyed.
He said: “My favourite bit was when Chalky fell over on the carpet and then Pipsqueak has come over and Sneezy went ‘no’, that was probably my favourite bit.”
The reporter then told Perry: “You have just put him right in it now.”
Brand quickly replied: “I did watch the Oscars.”
Perry told the reporter: “I call him on his b*******.”
Brand immediately pointed towards his wife and said: “Don’t swear.”
He then turned to the camera and continued chastising Perry, referring to the fact that the ceremony was taking place “in England”.
At that point, he unfolded the piece of paper and held up the word “Obey” in front of the camera.
The “Obey” logo was created for a clothing line associated with street artist Shepard Fairey.
However, social media users interpreted the gesture as Brand publicly asserting control over the singer.
Perry then turned away from the camera and reporter, appearing increasingly uncomfortable.
Brand was subsequently asked which nominees he had been pleased to see win.
“I’m happy for everyone really,” he replied, adding: “People that won, people that were nominated, people who were just there.
“The unsung heroes are the people that fill the seats.”
Pop singer Katy Perry pictured with her then-husband Russell Brand at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles
Brand then walked away from the interview and appeared to search for another reporter, leaving Perry to finish the exchange by herself.
Despite his abrupt departure, he continued holding Perry’s hand and appeared to try to lead her away with him.
The reporter asked: “Katy, how do you deal with this?”
Perry initially stuttered before replying: “No, he is actually hilarious.”
“Glad you find him funny,” the frustrated reporter responded.
Perry continued: “I’m speechless, usually I am the bubbly one and I’m just like, ‘Oh my God, you’re so funny, I can’t believe it.’”
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As the interview ended, the reporter said: “Have a lovely night, I know you are being pulled away, back, left and centre.”
The uncomfortable exchange is not the only reason Perry’s name has recently re-entered discussions about her former husband.
Perry, 42, was not called to testify during Brand’s trial, but it has emerged that she may have been in the room during one alleged sexual assault in 2009.
During the trial, Ian Winter, defending Brand, raised the possibility that a witness had been present when Brand allegedly placed his head in a woman’s lap during filming for Channel 4.
Mr Winter KC said of the 2009 incident: “She [the victim] says that other people were in the room and witnessed it, possibly including the defendant’s future wife, Ms Katy Perry.”
However, Scotland Yard reportedly never contacted the singer for a statement about the incident.
The reference to Perry’s possible presence was removed from the trial following submissions by Brand’s legal team.
Perry has not commented on Brand’s conviction for rape and sexual assault, but the Mail on Sunday has reported that the singer is considering telling her side of their “dark marriage” in a book and docuseries.
Perry pictured performing at the Blenheim Palace Festival in July this year. Sources close to the star say she has been in “active discussions” about telling her side of her 14-month marriage to Brand
Sources close to the singer claim she was waiting for the outcome of Brand’s trial before finalising a deal, but has been in “active discussions” about recounting her side of the 14-month marriage, which ended in 2011.
A well-placed Hollywood source said: “Katy has received multiple offers over the years to tell her story but would not consider anything until after the trial. She has a lot to say.
“At the moment she’s considering a Netflix-type series and an autobiography. She and her team have been in active discussions.
“There is a lot about that marriage which people don’t know. It was a very dark period in her life.”
The source claimed that Perry’s team had been in contact with streaming services including Netflix and Hulu.
The couple met in 2009, while Brand was filming Get Him To The Greek, and married the following year in a Hindu ceremony in India.
By the end of 2011, however, the marriage had ended, with Brand reportedly informing Perry by text shortly before she was due to perform.
The “I Kissed A Girl” and “Firework” singer has suggested that she knows more about Brand’s darker side, telling fans this summer that he should be “in jail”. She has not publicly discussed his conviction.
In a 2013 interview with Vogue, Perry said: “At first when I met him he wanted an equal and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they’re like, I can’t handle the equalness.
“He didn’t like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.
“I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending. But then I found out the real truth which I can’t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day.”
Brand reportedly humiliated Perry weeks before their December 2011 split by removing his wedding ring and joking about “bedding” college students during a university tour of the United States.
In a video posted on the Nudevista website, he said he was preparing for what he described as “a week of revolution”.
Brand told viewers he was looking forward to experiencing the antics of female students first-hand, then pointedly removed his wedding ring and joked that he would hide it “somewhere very, very safe” while travelling.
He added: “I don’t know what a sorority is except for what I have seen (online) that they are sort of sex clubs for women.”
There had reportedly been earlier indications that the marriage was under strain.
Perry was said to have been furious after Brand posted a social media photograph of her waking up in bed without make-up. The image was later removed.
Last July, the singer delivered a striking parting shot at her former husband during a concert in the UK, saying he “should be in jail”.
She made the remark during an appearance at the Blenheim Palace Festival in Oxfordshire, where she took part in a question-and-answer session with fans.
When one audience member asked her to act out her reaction to seeing her ex, Perry replied: “I hope my ex isn’t here. He should be in jail.”
She later said Brand had been jealous of her success. Perry went on to have a decade-long relationship with Orlando Bloom, 49, before they split in June 2025.
She shares a daughter, Daisy Dove, with the Pirates Of The Caribbean star.
Her relationship with Trudeau, 54, began the following month after they met while she was on tour. He separated from his wife, Sophie Gregoire, in 2023.
Photographs of Trudeau and Perry kissing on a yacht emerged in October 2025.
She described him as “the love of my life” in interviews connected to her concert film, Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour – Live from Paris.
