Piers Morgan on the viral Russell Brand Bible interview | BBC Radio 4 PM

I don't think I've actually ever had any interview clip that has provoked so many memes on the global internet as this one has.

Russell Brown faces very serious charges, rape, sexual assault and decent assault. Several women, six women, alleging crimes. And a trial expected in October. He denies those charges and we can, several women, six women, alleging crimes, and a trial expected in October. He denies those charges and we can't, obviously, and you couldn't in your interview with him, talk about those issues which are going to be litigated. But he is getting quite a platform

for his book, How to Become a Christian in Seven Days. And did you have any qualms about,

well, about giving him a platform, this side of a trial? No, but because I laid out at the start to the audience, look, we cannot talk about the trial or anything material to that trial. And I do fundamentally believe that people are innocent until proven guilty

and they should be allowed to go through due process. He has, as you say, had some very serious charges made against him. He has emphatically denied any wrongdoing and we will see, as I said in the interview, what transpires in the trial. I do think the fact he took this Bible into the courtroom recently, he clearly is going to fall back on his latent Christianity.

He only converted several years ago. I would imagine we're going to see this reappear as a plank of his defense, which is he's a very different character now. So we'll see. So I think for all sorts of reasons, it was perfectly valid to interview him. Also, he'd done a few interviews in America, which were, I would say, not particularly challenging,

um, with the conservative right over here, who kind of have, I think, bought into the, uh, the whole conversion and the whole, I'm a very different person now narrative, without really pushing Russell Brand on this. And I felt like over the two hours that we did with him,

that it was a very revealing insight into his character. And I think people are going to view the conversion to Christianity perhaps in a slightly more sceptical light, given what transpired in the interview.

I wanted to ask you about the length of the interview. I mean, I know YouTube space is very cheap or extremely easy, but an hour and 50 minutes for an interview with Russell Brand, I have to be honest, I started and then I was like, I don't want to hear all of this about his vaccine views and all of this stuff. Yeah, wow.

That was quite an epic piece of filming. I mean, maybe a bit too much.

Well the thing about YouTube is that there is no end game. And he made a point during the interview that he hoped we wouldn't edit it or cut it to misrepresent him. And I made him a solemn pledge in that moment that we would air the whole thing unedited, uncensored. It's the name of my channel.

And that is the beauty of YouTube. You can go much longer with these things. I mean, if you look at the number one podcast in the world, Joe Rogan, his shows are often three or four hours long with one guest. So, we just put out a clip, actually, which is before the interview started, he asked to say a prayer for both of us.

And even that, when you watch it, is pretty excruciating actually. And again I think we'll just raise more questions and answers about the authenticity of his dramatic late in life conversion to is pretty excruciating actually. And again I think we'll just raise more questions and answers about the authenticity of his dramatic late in life conversion to Christianity.