What is Pizzagate? Russell Brand claims he will explore theories like the Clinton suicides from "a sensible non-hysterical perspective"

In the latest episode of his podcast Stay Free With Russell Brand, the comedian-actor claimed that he felt confident in exploring theories like the Clinton suicides and Pizzagate on the podcast. The episode was released on Rumble on May 20, 2025, and saw Russell Brand explain what had changed. He said that he felt confident after U.S. President Donald Trump shared a compilation of deaths of people who allegedly died after opposing the Clintons.

For the unversed, Pizzagate is a disproved conspiracy theory that originated with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. According to the BBC, the theory blamed prominent democratic leaders, including Hillary Clinton, of running a p*dophilia ring out of the backrooms of a pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong in Washington.

Donald Trump shared a video on Truth Social titled "The video Hillary Clinton does not want you to see" on May 17, 2025. The video accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of being responsible for the deaths of several individuals, including JFK Jr., Vince Foster, and Seth Rich.

Subsequently, Russell Brand claimed to discuss President Trump's controversial content about the Clintons in his upcoming livestreams. He expressed that the "radical and liberal" side of him appreciates the idea of Trump talking about topics that would have been controversial in the past.

Russell Brand also shared that he plans to discuss controversial topics, including Pizzagate and the Clinton suicides. He also asked his listeners if they would like to see him cover "more stuff like this." Brand then added that while the podcast would be on a break for a week, he would like to talk about some of the previously mentioned topics.

"When we come back, I want to talk about stuff like Pizzagate and, for example, the Clinton suicides, but see if we can approach it from a sensible, non-hysterical perspective," Brand said.

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More about Pizzagate

Bill and Hillary Clinton attend former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman's funeral service (Image via Getty)

The BBC reported about the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and how it gained public attention in 2016. The site WikiLeaks released emails of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta after his email was hacked in March 2016.

Supporters of the debunked theory claimed that the emails contained code words referring to Democratic Party officials running a human trafficking and a child s*x ring. The alleged trafficking ring was run in a pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong, in Washington.

The outlet reported that the conspiracy theory gained public attention when a Reddit user posted a document on 4chan. The document supposedly contained "evidence" for the theory. The post was popular among Donald Trump supporters.

The conspiracy theory led to the Comet Ping Pong owner receiving death threats. In one incident, a man barged into the restaurant on December 4, 2016, and fired gunshots, claiming he was there to "self-investigate" the s*x trafficking ring.

James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong, spoke to The New York Post in November 2016 and called the theory, "insane and fabricated."

"From this insane, fabricated conspiracy theory, we've come under constant assault. I've done nothing for days but try to clean this up and protect my staff and friends from being terrorized," he said.

The Guardian reported in January 2025 that in 2017, the gunman, Edgar Maddison Welch, pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and transporting a firearm interstate. However, Edgar was fatally shot by the North Carolina Police at a traffic stop on January 4, 2025.

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The Pizzagate conspiracy theory has been debunked by several fact-checking outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Independent.