![Russell Brand’s YouTube channel demonetized over rape accusation Russell Brand’s YouTube channel demonetized over rape accusation](https://i0.wp.com/content.fortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GettyImages-107366270-e1695119639519.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1)
Russell Brand will no longer be able to make money from his YouTube videos after the video platform suspended his channel’s ability to generate revenue through ads.
YouTube confirms in an email wealth On Tuesday, the company decided to “pause monetization of Brand Channels” days after being exposed by British news outlets The comedian allegedly committed sexual misconduct, including rape, for years.
Brand representatives did not respond wealthwas asked to comment on the allegations or the demonetization of his YouTube channel.
“We have suspended monetization on Russell Brand’s channel due to a violation of our Creator Responsibility policy,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. “If a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, and we will take action to protect the community.”
The Google-owned video-sharing site said the move was a direct result of the serious accusations against Brand.
The company added that this would apply to all pipelines he may own or operate, meaning brands would be prohibited from using new or alternative pipelines to circumvent sanctions.
YouTube’s Creator Responsibility Guidelines state that the platform can take action to protect its user community if a creator’s behavior elsewhere is deemed harmful in some way.
The company said the brand’s alleged conduct had the potential to cause harm and could damage trust between its user base and advertisers.
The demonetization of Brand’s channel isn’t the first time YouTube has blocked high-profile influencers from making money on its platform amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
In 2021, the company Pause ads After a member of popular YouTuber David Dobrik’s entourage, known as the “Vlog Squad,” was Accused of raping a woman.
That same year, beauty influencer James Charles’ channel demonetized passed several minors Accused him of predatory behavior.
Brand accused of sexual assault and rape
in a 90 minute television special and accompanying news articles British broadcaster Channel 4 and British newspaper publishing era Over the weekend, four women accused Bland of abuse, including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.
One of his accusers claimed that she was 16 – the minimum age of consent in the UK – and still at school when she started seeing Brand, who was 31 at the time. call her “kid” three months into their relationship.
The alleged misconduct outlined in the investigation is said to have occurred between 2006 and 2013, when Brand was at the height of his fame, starring in Hollywood films including forgetting sarah marshall, Let him go to Greece and disney bed time story.It was also during this period that he Married and divorced pop star Katy Perry.
Having his YouTube earnings frozen is just one of the consequences Brand faces in light of the charges against him over the weekend.
he is He was quickly dumped by his agent On Monday, after the Channel 4 documentary aired, report British police are investigating new allegations against the comedian.
Brand, whose YouTube channel has 6.6 million followers and is still available on the platform, has used it to make controversial remarks on a range of topics from mainstream media to the U.S. political system.
On Friday, he used his channel to preemptively deny the “very serious criminal charges” previously brought against him. era Channel 4 has published the results of a years-long investigation into its conduct.
“I felt attacked,” Brand said in a statement. video It has been viewed more than 1.6 million times so far.
“I have received two extremely disturbing letters… outlining a series of extremely shocking and aggressive attacks,” he told his followers. “In this shocking and quite baroque series of attacks, there are some very serious accusations that I absolutely refute. These accusations are relevant to me when I was working in the mainstream, when I was always in newspapers, when I was in films Related. As I wrote, I was very, very promiscuous. The relationships I had during that period of promiscuity were absolutely consensual.”
Brand opens up about his experience recovering from sex drug addiction in the past.
“Sex for me is entertainment and a way to gain status and recognition,” he wrote In his 2007 autobiography My book wook. “I’m a lad from Grace with a good job and a great haircut, and I got a Wonka ticket to a cute sex factory because of ‘old’ fame.”
He also reveals in the book that while in recovery he “had to write a victim list,” which he described as “a long list of women I had wronged for my sex addiction.”
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