Katy Perry appears to have had the last laugh at her ex-husband Russell Brand after he initiated their divorce via text message – and received £180million in salary as he faces serious allegations over his behavior towards women.
Perry, 38, sold her popular back catalog to Litmus Music on Monday, earning a fortune for her shares of master recordings and publishing rights to five of her albums.
The extraordinary stroke of luck couldn’t be in greater contrast to the man with whom she once shared her life and whose own empire appears to be crumbling.
Brand has been accused of a series of lurid allegations by four women, including rape and sexual assault.
He vehemently denies the claims, which were first revealed by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times.
The romance between Perry and Brand came as a surprise 14 years ago when it first became public
Brand and Perry’s marital problems were captured in a film about her life and showed her struggling to cope with being away from him
Katy Perry and Russell Brand appeared to clash during an interview at the 2010 Oscars (above)
In a now-infamous social media incident, Brand posted an unflattering picture of Perry on his Twitter page that showed her without any makeup
Perry did not comment on the allegations her ex-husband faced, but continued to post unrelated posts on her social media.
Their romance came as a surprise 14 years ago when it first became public.
The couple met on the set of “Get Him to the Greek,” the Hollywood film in which Brand starred.
She had filmed a cameo for the film and they hit it off straight away – although the scene she appeared in was ultimately cut.
The couple had a lavish wedding in India in 2010 at the Ranthambore Tiger Sanctuary in Rajasthan.
At the Oscars that year, they appeared to clash in an interview in which Perry called him out for his “bull****” after accusing her husband of not watching the event. Brand responded, “Don’t swear,” before later pulling her away from the interview.
Their marriage was to be short-lived after Brand texted the singer the following year that he wanted a divorce.
The heartbreaking scene when she received the news was captured in a film about her life called Katy Perry: Part of Me and shows her struggling to cope with being away from him.
Perry was shown clutching a necklace gifted to her by Brand just before a concert in Brazil as she sobbed uncontrollably after struggling to cope with the news.
Perry has remained silent on the subject, but questions were raised about how much she knew after a 2013 interview with Vogue resurfaced
Katy Perry attends the European premiere of ‘Katy Perry Part Of Me’ at Empire Leicester Square in London on July 3, 2012
Allegations: Brand, 48, has been accused by four women of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse. They said the alleged incidents took place at the height of his fame between 2006 and 2013 (pictured together in 2009).
She later admitted that she didn’t know if Brand had even seen the film that showed the impact of the breakup. “I don’t know if he saw it,” Perry said in 2012. “But he knew the cameras were always around.”
Further footage from the film showed difficulties in their relationship, with Perry admitting in one scene that she was struggling to keep the marriage alive.
The film not only shows that Perry was the one who made the most trips to visit her husband at the time, but also showed that the two had different attitudes towards family.
While Brand seemed excited about parenthood, Perry, who was ten years younger and only had a few successful years under her belt at the time, wasn’t quite ready.
The film showed Perry sobbing backstage in Brazil, unable to tell whether the show would go ahead or not, even though it eventually did.
Another scene from this time showed Perry sitting on the plane exhausted and asking one of her companions when her next tour break was so she could visit Brand.
She looked distressed when she was told she would not be able to see him for the next 18 days.
In another shot, a crew member asked Perry if Brand would visit her.
The angry pop star replied: “He should but he doesn’t.”
She later admitted: “I’m fighting to keep my marriage alive.”
A friend then added: “She should be resting, but she wants to fly to where Russ is to show she cares. ‘She’s completely exhausted.’
In another sequence, Perry received a text message from Brand in which she mentioned her future children and to which she said: “I will be a mother when I decide to be a mother, but not now.” A baby can be a baby do not get.’
A second text message then made the singer cry. Brand filed for divorce from Perry, who was on tour at the time, in December 2011 after just 14 months of marriage.
In a Vogue interview, the California Gurls singer said she initially took “a lot of responsibility” for the breakup until she “found out the real truth.”
Perry said she would keep this “truth,” which she “wasn’t necessarily allowed to reveal,” in her safe “for a rainy day.”
This has led to renewed speculation about what secret the singer had opened up about after the divorce.
She said at the time: “He’s a very smart man and I was in love with him when I married him.”
“Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he wrote to me saying he was divorcing me on December 31, 2011.”
Perry added, “I felt very responsible for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can’t necessarily reveal because I keep it locked up in my safe for a rainy day.”
The couple met on the set of “Get Him to the Greek,” the Hollywood film in which Brand starred
Katy Perry and Russell Brand arrive at the Annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 30, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California
“I let go and thought: It’s not me; That’s a mystery to me. So I continued with it.’
The couple reportedly underwent marital therapy before their relationship failed, and comedian David Baddiel explained that the cracks were present long before their wedding.
“I was there,” he said. “Russell told me they had a big fight the night before their wedding. When he said that, I thought about asking, “Are you sure?” but I didn’t say that. Maybe I should have done it.’
Brand also seemed to despise Perry’s lifestyle.
In the 2015 documentary Brand: A Second Coming, filmed during the couple’s wedding, he said: “Things in Africa really hit me hard.”
“I am associated with exactly what I detest: empty, meaningless, plastic, manufactured, thoughtless celebrity.” That is exactly the sea in which we swim. “Oh, who is he?”…’He’s married to Katy Perry.’
Katy Perry and Russell Brand kiss on camera at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in LA in 2011
Tough: The British comedian reveals that a trip to Africa for Comic Relief in 2010 made him rethink what he had in common with pop princess Katy
Brand has been accused of a series of lurid allegations by four women, including rape and sexual assault, and vehemently denies the claims
However, he later said on TikTok: “I really tried in this relationship. ‘I only have positive feelings for her.’
Elsewhere in the film, Brand was also seen mocking his wife in a stand-up routine and admitting to his friend Stephen Merchant that he didn’t think their marriage would last.
He told him, “It’s definitely good to be with someone I love.”
“But it’s not a solution to anything spiritual.”
“That’s my suspicion, that at some point I have to leave to be happy.”
This was perhaps most evident in his behavior during their time together.
In a now-infamous social media incident, he posted an unflattering picture of Perry on his Twitter page that showed her without any makeup.
In the picture, the Teenage Dream star appears to have just woken up and looks pretty shocked.
It was quickly deleted from Brand’s Twitter page, which was seen as a sign of her displeasure with the publication.
Whatever the truth, it seems the once close couple couldn’t be happier or further apart.