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"Russell Brand has been described as a &amp;quot;strange&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;wonderful&amp;quot; man by the Dalai Lama. The Buddhist leader met Brand at an event held at Manchester&amp;#039;s MEN Arena last night (June 16).  The British comedian hosted the evening, which saw the Dalai Lama give a speech to 11,000 people titled &amp;#039;Century of Dialogue - Stand up &amp;amp; Be the Change&amp;#039;. The monk laughed at Brand&amp;#039;s humour, while also tugging at his beard, according to The Sun. Brand told the audience: &amp;quot;Some of you might be surprised to see me here. I&amp;#039;ve gone from being Shagger of the Year three times to introducing the Dalai Lama. &amp;quot;It has certainly been an interesting journey. The Dalai Lama told me &amp;#039;We are all just people&amp;#039; and I&amp;#039;ve taken that on board as I was very nervous meeting him.&amp;quot; The Nobel Peace Prize winner later said: &amp;quot;Some people told me before to listen to this strange person&amp;#039;s explanations. &amp;quot;I was surprised but I think your openness is wonderful.&amp;quot; During his speech, the Dalai Lama praised the UK for its openness and tolerance, saying: &amp;quot;Britain should be very proud of its place in the world. It is known as a country which stands up against racism and intolerance and it has provided a haven for those fleeing torture and oppression.&amp;quot; Brand appeared to make a dig at Graham Norton during the event. Norton recently upset the comic by bringing up his divorce with Katy Perry during an interview. Brand said: &amp;quot;Someone was rude to me. I was angry. I can forgive the human being but not the action. Your speech has been really good for me.&amp;quot; The 37-year-old can currently be seen in the comedy musical Rock of Ages opposite Tom Cruise. Watch Russell Brand talk to Digital Spy below:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/news/a387830/dalai-lama-calls-russell-brand-a-strange-wonderful-man/>