Russell Brand has been banned from monetizing YouTube for violating its creator responsibility policy.
The action comes after a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Shipmentswhich reported allegations of sexual assault from four women against the comedian and content creator.
According to the BBC, YouTube said it blocked ad revenue for Brand as a way to “protect” its users. “When a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action,” a YouTube spokesperson said Tuesday.
Aside from Brand’s main YouTube channel, which has 6.6 million YouTube subscribers, the Google-owned company said its decision “will apply to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand,” which includes Stay Free With The Russell Brand, Wake Up With Russelland Football is greatwith over 468,000 subscribers between them.
Mashable has reached out to YouTube for further comment. YouTube responded by confirming that the Brand has been suspended from the YouTube Partner Program. A spokesperson said, “Our Creator Responsibility Guidelines make it clear that if a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees, or ecosystem, we can take action to protect our community, including suspension to monetize. Although these behaviors are rare, they can. cause widespread harm to the YouTube community, and can damage the trust of creators, users, and advertisers.”
They added that this is in line with how the company has dealt with certain situations in the past, noting the temporary demonetization of David Dobrik and James Charles’s respective accounts (both of which have since returned to the platform). YouTube said that creators suspended from monetization “are prohibited from using a new or alternative channel to avoid our enforcement decision.”
Even after #MeToo, research reveals ‘alarming’ trends in tolerance and sexual assault
The comedian continued Bipolarization The tour was also postponed due to the allegations.
The brand pivoted to a career in online wellness and influence during the pandemic, gaining millions of subscribers in the process. His content ranges from spirituality and health to conspiracy theories, anti-establishment messaging and interviews with the likes of Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan. On Sept. 2021, for example, he shared information on how to avoid COVID-19 safety measures and was accused of anti-vaxx messaging and misinformation.
The brand still has a presence on Rumble, an “alternative” video platform that has become popular with right-wing conservatives and conspiracy theorists.
On Friday night, before the Times‘ investigative publication, Brand took to Rumble and X posted a video to say that “very, very serious criminal allegations” were about to be made against him. Brand has denied all allegations.
UPDATE: September 19, 2023, 11:59 am EDT Including a comment from YouTube.
