Russell Brand slammed over schoolchildren advice
Comedian Russell Brand was dismissed as a "walking contradiction" by a documentary-maker for telling children not to pursue fame and fortune.
Ondi Timoner is gearing up for the release of her intimate behind-the-scenes film about the British funnyman, Brand: A Second Coming, which includes some intensely private footage during his ill-fated marriage to pop star Katy Perry.
Brand pulled out of promoting the documentary when it premiered at
the South by Southwest festival in Texas in March (15), insisting
watching it had depressed him.
Now Timoner has revealed she has barely had any contact with Brand
after she refused to agree to his demands to edit out footage he
found uncomfortable, including moments with Perry and discussions
about his father.
She tells British newspaper The Sun, "If I'd done all his changes
it would have been a terrible film. He was made uncomfortable by
showing his vulnerability in the film. He wrote to me that his life
was painful enough to live the first time around.
"He is a walking contradiction. In one scene he is saying to a load
of school kids, 'Don't pursue fame and money', while sitting there
with all those things."
Timoner also recalled how her relationship with Brand has become
frosty since they worked together, telling the London Evening
Standard, "I hope we can be friends at some point. But it is
awkward at the moment... I'm not sure how he feels about me. I know
he respects me as an artist. He is far more serious and private in
real life. The person he makes himself out to be in public is there
to make him bullet-proof."