Video-sharing giant YouTube has demonetized Russell Brand’s videos on his channel following sexual assault allegations against the comedian.
Brand faces accusations from four women of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.
According to a joint investigation by newspapers The Sunday Times, The Times and TV show Dispatches, women alleged Brand sexually assaulted them between 2006 and 2013
Brand has denied the allegations, saying in a video posted on Friday on X, formerly Twitter, that his relationships have been “always consensual.
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But despite these only being allegations against Brand, the fallout from the media frenzy is now hitting his livelihood, with YouTube suspending the comedian’s monetization on the platform to “protect” its users.
“We have suspended monetization on Russell Brand’s channel for violating our creator responsibility policy,” the platform announced Tuesday.
“If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.”
YouTube said it suspended Brand’s channel from the YouTube Partner Program “following serious allegations against the creator. This action means the channel is no longer able to monetize on YouTube.”
Russell Brand’s YouTube channel currently has 6.6 million followers.
A brand book publisher and a literary and talent agency also announced they are cutting ties with him.
The comedian said he has always been transparent about his previous relationships being consensual, suggesting “mainstream media outlets are making a coordinated attack” against him.
“These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous,” he said.
On Monday, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said it was investigating a report of an alleged sexual assault in 2003 in the wake of allegations against Brand.
“We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us,” the department said.
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