"Simply normalizing chowing down on bugs"- Russell Brand comments on the hosts of Good Morning Britain eating "minced cricket" on air

English comedian and podcaster Russell Brand has recently called out Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley for eating roasted crickets on TV. In his June 16 podcast, Brand lashed out at British media and pointed out this incident. He also uploaded a clip from his podcast to X on June 18.

In the podcast, Russell Brand reacted to a clip of Richard Madeley eating crickets on national TV. While pointing out Richard Madeley's extensive media experience, Russell Brand said this taste test was the "threshold" that he watched to get fame in Britain. In the video, Brand said:

"You've got a little bit of first-person schooling in media spaces; you get to understand how this particular... article or this particular... cover all are easy participants in an overall kind of blast of centralized information. You will eat the bugs, you will vote for this war, you will carry an ID card. In this instance it's just simply normalizing chowing down on bugs."

The clip further showed the GMB host eating "minced cricket" mixed with a sauce. On that, Russell commented that he did not even want to hear this phrase.

"I think I just don't want to hear 'minced cricket' as, like, what? I don't want to arrive home after a day's graft and toil and hear the phrase 'minced cricket.' I don't want to hear that," he said.

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Why did Richard Madeley try eating crickets on TV, to which Russell Brand reacted?

The clip of Richard Madeley tasting the bugs to which Russell Brand reacted is from the GMB's April 24 broadcast. During the show, while reporting on the claims of campaigners that crickets and ants should be a part of a balanced diet, Richard gave it a try.

The media outlet posted a clip on Facebook and wrote:

"Campaigners say insects such as crickets and ants are high in protein and should be part of a balanced and nutritious diet. Richard tries roasted and minced crickets in the studio."

When Richard was asked about his taste review, he responded:

"The flavor is quite light; they're sort of hollow. Um, I'd say it tastes a little bit like a very mildly flavored nut. There's nothing revolting about it, [sic] no bad taste, nothing makes me want to heave... In fact, I'd like a bit of salt on that."

He added that he found the crickets "delicious," and that it was "all up here," referring to the notion of finding them disgusting only a mental construct.

"It's delicious. Sorry, I am not saying it for the sake of the program or the television, that is delicious. If I was served that, and I did not know that there was cricket in it, I would just think it was a slightly milder tasting curry. It's fine, it's all up here," he said.

Several media houses reported that many viewers had gotten disgusted with the scene. Now, more than a month later, Russell Brand reacted to this.

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Edited by Arunava Dutta