Why an old Katy Perry and Russell Brand red carpet clip is going viral again, and why one prop has people fixated
A 2010 red carpet clip of Katy Perry and Russell Brand has resurfaced after his conviction, with viewers focused on one moment.
A red carpet interview from 2010 is being watched in a very different light after Russell Brand’s conviction this week. The brief exchange with Katy Perry has spread widely on X, with many viewers now zeroing in on a moment that passed quickly at the time.
An old clip of Katy Perry and Russell Brand at the 2010 Vanity Fair Oscar Party has resurfaced online after Brand was found guilty of rape and sexual assault offences.
In the short interview, the pair are stopped on the red carpet by a GMTV reporter and asked what they thought of the Academy Awards. Brand starts to answer, but Perry cuts in and jokes that he did not watch the ceremony. Brand then tries to turn it into a joke while Perry laughs.
mind you he used to use an “obey” tag on katy perry everytime she wasn’t agreeing with him. imagine the horrors he did behind closed doors… pic.twitter.com/WbfL6tRQCZ
The exchange keeps moving, but it is the next few seconds that have become a major talking point in the clip below. After Perry says she calls him on his “bulls***,” Brand replies seriously, “Don’t swear,” reminding her that the interview is airing in England.
As the reporter asks Perry who she was pleased to see win, Brand can be seen holding up a badge or card that reads “Obey.” Perry then goes quiet while Brand continues giving his own take on the night. When the reporter tries to bring Perry back into the conversation, Brand carries on speaking until he finishes. Asked how she deals with him, Perry replies: “He’s actually hilarious,” and the reporter answers: “I’m glad you find him funny.”
The detail that set off a new wave of reactions
The video has racked up more than three million views and around 12,000 likes on X at the time of writing, with many people saying the interaction lands differently now than it did when it was filmed.
Some viewers described the moment as bizarre, while others called it disgusting. A number of replies focused on how Brand appeared to react when Perry interrupted him or drew attention. Others questioned the “Obey” item he held up during the interview and wondered whether it was meant as a message to Perry.
That detail has become one of the biggest points of debate around the clip. Some social media users took it as an example of public control, especially because it appeared immediately after Perry contradicted him.
But not everyone read it the same way. Others pointed out that Obey was also a clothing label linked to street artist Shepard Fairey. People defending that point said the brand was widely known at the time and was associated with anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist ideas. One person suggested Brand may simply have been showing it off because, at that point in his career, he was presenting himself as an anti-Hollywood, outsider type.
The clip itself does not explain why he raised it, which is part of why the moment has drawn so much attention.
Why the clip has resurfaced now
The renewed interest follows Brand’s conviction on Thursday, November 5, 2026.
He was found guilty of four offences: one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The convictions related to the rape of a 21-year-old fan after meeting her at a 2009 stand-up show at the Hammersmith Apollo, the sexual assault of a Channel 4 worker in 2009 after she was forced to give him a massage, the kissing and groping of a Capital Radio worker in a corridor in 2005, and the groping of an MTV worker at a Soho bar in 2004.
He was found not guilty of three other charges. Those included two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault. The jury cleared him of raping an MTV worker in a toilet in 2004, raping a woman he met at a cabaret show during the 1999 Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and attempting to drag an MTV worker into a toilet to indecently assault her in 2001.
The trial at Southwark Crown Court lasted nearly four weeks. Jurors deliberated for eight and a half hours before reaching their verdicts. Brand showed no emotion as the decisions were delivered.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Monday, November 9. His barrister asked for him to be allowed time with his family before being taken into custody, but the judge ruled that he would remain behind bars until Monday.
That legal backdrop is why a fleeting red carpet moment from 2010 is now being replayed so intensely, with viewers revisiting an exchange that once looked like a throwaway celebrity interview and asking what they think they can see in it now.
