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Russell Brand's former PA describes a 'degrading' wake-up ritual

Jimmy Zona tells Channel 4 News that working for Brand meant whispering him awake each morning and facing anger when he suggested an alarm clock.

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Channel 4 News Story of November 14, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of Channel 4 News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 122,314 views.

Russell Brand’s former PA: He was 'a controlling, scary person’

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4:22Zona describes being instructed to wake Brand by whispering beside his bed each morning.
6:24He says suggesting an alarm clock prompted anger and a refusal.
12:04Zona recalls Brand screaming at him from an aircraft toilet over misplaced wipes.
13:27He recounts a journey in which he says Brand drove into oncoming traffic.
18:29Zona rejects a political explanation for the backlash against Brand and describes controlling behaviour.

Jimmy Zona says his job as Russell Brand's personal assistant included kneeling beside his employer's bed each morning and gently whispering him awake. Suggesting an alarm clock instead brought an angry refusal, he tells Channel 4 News.

The interview with culture correspondent Minnie Stephenson closes the broadcaster's Four the Record: Russell Brand on Trial series. Zona, who worked for Brand in Los Angeles in 2011, describes a working environment in which charm could give way to rage and saying no did not feel possible.

"It was degrading through and through," Zona says. Alongside the morning routine, he recounts being sent out of a cinema to fetch food and being screamed at from an aircraft toilet over misplaced wipes.

His account also includes a frightening journey in which, he says, Brand drove across a double yellow line into oncoming traffic while shouting, "This is Russell Road." Zona describes panic attacks that ultimately led him to leave the job.

The episode follows the guilty verdicts discussed in Channel 4's series. Zona tells Stephenson he was not surprised by the outcome, linking his response to the disregard for others he experienced while working for Brand. His account concerns his own employment, rather than evidence establishing the offences considered at trial.

Stephenson ends the series by saying the programme will return when there are significant developments.

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