Brand cuts short ‘snide’ reporter at housing protest

Russell Brand lost his cool with a journalist in Downing Street when he was asked how much he paid to rent his home.

The comic and actor was delivering a petition to No 10 as part of a campaign over the cost of housing in London. But he became agitated when Channel 4 News reporter Páraic O’Brien suggested that part of the problem was the super-rich buying property in the capital.

When he was asked how much rent he paid, he replied: “I’m not interested in talking to you about my rent, mate. I’m here to support a very important campaign.”

As the reporter continued to question the 39-year-old about the value of his home, Brand pointed his finger in his face and said: “It’s rented. We don’t know the value, you would have to talk to my landlord.

“Blessedly, I can afford my rent and I’m prepared to stand up for people that can’t.”

Cutting the interview short, he added: “Snides like you, mate, undermine it. You’re a snide. All right, let’s do one.”

O’Brien wrote on Twitter: “Is it my job to test tension between private circumstances and publicly-held views of celebrities? Yes.”

Hundreds of residents and supporters of the New Era estate in east London took part in the protest over fears that a takeover by US investment firm Westbrook could lead to a massive rent hike.