Russell had a difficult childhood. His mum, who he's very close to and who was a single mum, had cancer 3 times before he was 16. He copes with his life by using humour and is very open about his emotional problems and failings as a person. He said once that making up with all the people he's upset would be like Saddam Hussein going round to all the Kurds with a box of Quality Street and saying sorry.
My husband died of cancer last year and I nursed him at home till he died - he was great how he dealt with it and often used humour to help him cope. Making jokes about sad things doesn't make you a bad person. Russell is an okay person, very warm, funny and kind, he believes in good stuff. All this hate stuff really hurts his feelings - why do it? What's to gain? Life's short, lets try to get on and be kind to each other.