Russell Brand claims his marriage to Katy Perry ended because of "normal, human reasons"

Now, speaking on his politics podcast 'Stay Free with Russell Brand', the 'Get Him to the Greek' actor has opened up on their separation, insisting he and Katy, 40, simply couldn't make the marriage work and he still has enormous respect for her.

He said: "When I was married to Katy Perry, she's not entirely normal because she's an extraordinary massive star but she's not weird or off-key and wasn't involved in anything nefarious.

"The reasons our marriage didn't work are the normal, human reasons marriages don't work and I have nothing but respect for her, even though I obviously disagree with her political views but I probably would disagree with some of my beloved wife Laura Brand's political views so you know, you always disagree with people don't you."

Following on from this, Russell also went on to explain how he believes that the Hollywood culture is used to spellbind people.

He added: "I think in general Hollywood and the culture is used to spellbind you and distract you. I've been very very clear about that and I do also now believe that there is a planned and organised dark intelligence using the culture for distraction and control."

Previously, Katy described her marriage to Russell to be "like a tornado".

The 40-year-old singer - who now has four-year-old daughter Daisy Dove with her fiancé Orlando Bloom - described her relationship with Russell as "interesting and stimulating".

During an interview with '60 Minutes Australia', she said: "It was the first breaking of my idealistic mind. 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."

Katy explained she has "always resonated with friction and resistance and challenges", and gravitated toward Russell because she thought the "pressure" in their relationship would create something "beautiful".

She added: "I know that inherently [about myself]. Like, 'OK, it's gonna take a lot of work but oh, we're gonna get somewhere great,' or, 'It's gonna be a beautiful diamond. All this pressure is gonna turn into [that].' "