Katy Perry and Russell Brand’s Relationship Timeline: The Way They Were

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Katy Perry and Russell Brand's Relationship Timeline: The Way They Were

Katy Perry met ex-husband Russell Brand while filming a romantic scene for Get Him to the Greek, but their real-life romance didn't pan out. "When he was filming Get Him to the Greek, I did a cameo with him. My scene called for me to make out with him," Perry told Glamour in 2010 about working with Brand two years earlier. "And on the way down the stairs after the scene, I was hopping like a bunny. I hop like a bunny when I'm happy — I get a bit childlike. He gives me the Christmas Eve jitters." While the scene was ultimately cut from the movie, their interaction gave her the courage to make the first move when Brand was on stage at the VMAs the following year. "I was 25, 30 feet away from him. And I threw the bottle straight at him. Hit him smack dab on the head," Perry told Esquire in July 2010. The duo announced their engagement in January 2010 after just four months of dating and tied the knot during a Hindu ceremony in India in October of that year. However, their relationship ended just as quickly as it began. Brand announced in December 2011 that he and Perry had decided to call it quits after just over one year of marriage. In July 2012, Brand explained to Howard Stern that while he "loved [Perry] so much," he ultimately realized that their relationship just wasn't working. Keep scrolling to relive Brand and Perry's whirlwind romance:

Credit: BDG/Shutterstock

Katy Perry and Russell Brand's Relationship Timeline: The Way They Were

Katy Perry met ex-husband Russell Brand while filming a romantic scene for Get Him to the Greek, but their real-life romance didn't pan out. "When he was filming Get Him to the Greek, I did a cameo with him. My scene called for me to make out with him," Perry told Glamour in 2010 about working with Brand two years earlier. "And on the way down the stairs after the scene, I was hopping like a bunny. I hop like a bunny when I'm happy — I get a bit childlike. He gives me the Christmas Eve jitters." While the scene was ultimately cut from the movie, their interaction gave her the courage to make the first move when Brand was on stage at the VMAs the following year. "I was 25, 30 feet away from him. And I threw the bottle straight at him. Hit him smack dab on the head," Perry told Esquire in July 2010. The duo announced their engagement in January 2010 after just four months of dating and tied the knot during a Hindu ceremony in India in October of that year. However, their relationship ended just as quickly as it began. Brand announced in December 2011 that he and Perry had decided to call it quits after just over one year of marriage. In July 2012, Brand explained to Howard Stern that while he "loved [Perry] so much," he ultimately realized that their relationship just wasn't working. Keep scrolling to relive Brand and Perry's whirlwind romance:

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September 2008

The former couple met when Perry was asked to film a brief cameo for Get Him to the Greek, in which Brand played rockstar Aldous Snow. "It got cut!" she told MTV News in June 2010 about her scene in the film. "I was like, 'I'm sleeping with [Russell], and you're not gonna put me in the movie? That's so messed up!' ... [But] I totally understand from a director's perspective or from a moviegoer's [perspective]. If you saw me and Russell making out ... [it would feel like,] 'There's Russell Brand in the movie.'"

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August 2009

Though her unconventional pickup method confused Brand at first, the "Never Really Over" performer soon won him over and they were spotted making out at an MTV VMAs after party.

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November 2009

After months of romance rumors, Perry seemingly confirmed that she was dating the British TV personality at the MTV European Music Awards, when she wore a corset and shorts ensemble that was designed to look like the West Ham soccer team uniforms. (West Ham FC is Brand's favorite team.) Her shorts also featured the name "Rusty" across the bum, a nod to her then-boyfriend's nickname.

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December 2009

"I'm in love with someone," Brand confessed during an appearance on the UK talk show Loose Women one month later, before joking, "I feel ill."

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January 2010

Us confirmed in January 2010 that Brand and the "Chained to the Rhythm" singer were engaged, with a source noting at the time that the proposal took place in Jaipur, India.

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October 2010

Brand and Perry tied the knot in a traditional Hindu ceremony in India later that year.

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December 2010

The Rock of Ages actor gushed about his wife during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, two months after their wedding. "I am really happily married,” he said at the time. Perry returned the favor during her own appearance on the talk show, noting, "We're just really good friends. ... Our favorite time is just being at home with our cats and having fun."

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November 2011

The "Bon Appetit" musician refuted rumors that her marriage was on the rocks in late 2011, writing via Twitter: "First I'm pregnant & then I'm divorced. What am I All My Children?! #ericakane #pshhh #ifihadadollarforeverytime ..."

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December 2011

Just one month later, however, Brand announced that he and Perry had split. "Katy doesn't think Russell respects her parents' Christian beliefs or her friends," a source told Us at the time, adding that the pair had gotten into a massive argument about where to spend the holidays shortly before their breakup. "She was like, 'F–k you. I'm going to do my own thing.' Russell replied, 'Fine, f–k you too.'"

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July 2012

The Emperor's New Clothes actor explained during an interview with Howard Stern that he decided to end things with Perry because they were at different stages in their lives. "She's young, successful and dedicated," Brand said at the time. "[The reality is] you can't fully understand it until you do it. I was really into the idea of marriage and having children."

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June 2013

One year later, however, Perry shared her side of the story with Vogue. "He’s a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him," she told the magazine in June 2013. "[But] let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011." The California native also claimed that Brand felt intimidated by her success: "At first when I met him he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and they’re like, 'I can’t handle the equalness.' He didn’t like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour."

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August 2014

"[Divorce] was emotionally traumatic for me," Perry told Rolling Stone in August 2014. "It was the death of a dream. I was in fairy tale land, and the reality of it wasn't so."

Brand, meanwhile, had nothing but positive things to say about his time with the pop star. "I really enjoyed [being married to her]. Katy Perry is an amazing person," he confessed during an October 2014 appearance on Today. He echoed those sentiments in a subsequent interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: "The best thing [about our relationship] is she's really exciting, and brilliant, and good fun, and the worst thing I suppose is things like that don't last forever."

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October 2015

Brand later revealed that his ex-wife's massive fame also played a role in their split. "Oh my f--king God. I'm living, like, this life of the very thing I detest: vapid, vacuous celebrity," he said in his 2015 documentary BRAND: A Second Coming. Two years later, he shared a similar statement with in an interview with UKTV. "The marriage didn't last for a very long time, and I think that is to do with the undulating nature of fame," he said in April 2017. "I still feel very warm towards her. I feel like when I hear about her or see her, 'Aw there’s that person. There’s that person in the world.'"

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August 2020

Shortly after she and Bloom welcomed their daughter, Perry reflected on her marriage to Brand while comparing it to her current relationship. “It was the first breaking of my idealistic mind," she told 60 Minutes Australia. "I was having great success at 23, 24 and 25, and then I met someone that was interesting and stimulating. It was just like a tornado. It was everything happening once. ... I have always resonated with friction and resistance and challenges."

She continued, describing her romance with the Pirates of the Caribbean star as "healthy frictional. It’s very open, very communicative, nothing is swept under the mat."

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September 2023

After Brand was accused of sexual assault by multiple women — one of whom claimed to The Times that she was just 16 at the time of her interaction with Brand — comments Perry made about Brand 10 years prior resurfaced.