Russell Brand: YouTube suspends monetisation of star’s channel

YouTube has said it has “suspended monetisation” on Russell Brand’s channel for “violating” its “creator responsibility policy”.

The online platform said it was taking action “to protect” its users.

The Metropolitan Police has received a report of an alleged sexual assault in 2003 in the wake of allegations in the media about the star.

Over the weekend the comedian and actor was accused of rape and sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, which he denies.

“If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action,” said a YouTube spokesperson on Tuesday.

The move comes after the remaining shows of Brand’s Bipolarisation tour were postponed.

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In recent years the former TV and radio personality has re-positioned himself, posting regular videos about spirituality, politics and, recently, UFOs, to his 6.6 million followers.

YouTube’s decision to block his revenue streams applies to “all channels that may be owned or operated” by the 48-year-old, it confirmed to the BBC.

While YouTube noted that such bans are rare, it did point to several examples including the suspension of adverts from the channels of Slovak internet personality David Dobrik and US YouTuber and make-up artist James Charles.

Speaking to the Guardian on Monday, Sara McCorquodale, chief executive of social media analysis agency CORQ, said Brand’s YouTube channel would “most likely” be “making £2,000 to £4,000 per video, not taking into account any affiliate deals and brand sponsorships that might be running in the background”.

The allegations against Brand were made in a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.

Ahead of its broadcast, Brand took to his online social media video platforms – YouTube, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter), as well as Rumble – to pre-emptively deny all claims of misconduct, saying he was the subject of “a coordinated attack” involving “very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.”

He added that his relationships have been “always consensual.”

On Monday, one of the women who has accused him of sexual assault when she was 16 has said his behaviour was an “open secret”.

The woman, known as Alice, added that allegations against him have been “a long time coming”.

Speaking for the first time since accusations became public, she said his denial is “laughable” and “insulting”.

Brand still has a presence on Rumble, where he has 1.4 million followers, and he hosts a regular show, but there was no new episode on Monday.

The channel’s description says: “Everybody knows that the old ideas won’t help us. Religion is dead. Capitalism is dead. Communism is dead. Where will the answers of the next century lie? Particularly, when we’re facing a mental health epidemic and ecological melt down.”

Source: BBC NEWS

Addo Gilbert Oduro

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