Russell Brand says he is ‘volatile person’ after dispute with journalist

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/dec/02/russell-brand-volatile-person-rent-journalist-snide

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Russell Brand has described himself as a “volatile person” after he lost his cool with a journalist in Downing Street.

The actor, comedian and celebrity activist became agitated when Channel 4 News reporter Paraic O’Brien asked him much he paid to rent his east London home during a protest over the cost of housing.

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

Brand, 39, pointed his finger in the journalist’s face and called him “a snide”.

O’Brien suggested that the housing problem was being exacerbated by the super-rich buying property in the capital.

Brand later discussed the interview on his “Trews” alternative news programme, likening it to a “quarrel at a jumble sale”.

He said: “I shouldn’t be allowed on television. I’m so easily wound up. What does it matter to me, what have I got to lose, just from this one bloke?

“But I’m a volatile person.”

He went on: “When you talk to a journalist I sort of think it’s a combination of boring and really annoying, and my personality type is not well suited to that kind of environment.”

During the interview, Brand told the reporter: “I’m not interested in talking to you about my rent, mate. I’m here to support a very important campaign.”

When asked about the value of his home, he went on: “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 [the campaign]. 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.”