YouTube turns off the cash for Russell Brand as comedian's work is pulled by the BBC

19 September 2023, 12:42

The BBC has removed some of Russell Brand's work from the iPlayer and Sounds sites and YouTube axed his monetisation after new claims against the comedian emerged.

The monetisation of Russell Brand's channel was halted for "violating our Creator Responsibility policy", the Google-owned company has said.

Brand's YouTube account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, and earns him between £2,000 and £4,000 per video, was suspended from YouTube's partner account "following serious allegations against the creator", meaning the channel is no longer able to make money from advertising on the platform.

The BBC also announced today that some of his work was being pulled from iPlayer and the Sounds website.

A BBC spokesman said: "There is limited content featuring Russell Brand on iPlayer and Sounds.

"We’ve reviewed that content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations.”

"The BBC does not ban or remove content when it is a matter of public record, unless we have justification for doing so," the spokesman added.

The 48-year-old actor has been accused of serious sexual assault allegations and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films, following a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches.

He has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.

The Met police is also investigating an alleged sex attack in Soho in 2003.

Brand claimed he is the victim of a "co-ordinated" attempt to control his "voice" as a critic of the "mainstream media".

Read more: Police receive report of sexual assault following claims made against Russell Brand - as comedian’s shows are axed

Read more: Russell Brand’s remaining live shows postponed following sexual assault allegations

Timeline of events around Russell Brand allegations

In a statement, YouTube said: "We have suspended monetisation on Russell Brand's channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy. If a creator's off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community."

The company said that it had 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 monetise on YouTube".

The decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by the 48-year-old, it added.

Brand still has a presence on video platform Rumble, where his channel has 1.4 million followers and he hosts a weekly live show at 5pm BST, but there was no new episode on Monday.

His most recent video on Rumble is the short clip from Friday when he denied the allegations against him which were published the following day.

The Rumble channel description reads: "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 meltdown."