YouTube Suspends Russell Brand From Making Money Offsite After Sexual Assault Allegations

LONDON — YouTube said Tuesday that Russell Brand will no longer make money from the video streaming site after several women came forward with sexual assault allegations against the comedian-turned-influencer.

YouTube said monetization of Brand’s account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, had been suspended “following serious allegations against the creator.”

“This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand,” the Google-owned video service said.

Other channels associated with Brand’s main YouTube page include Awakening With Russell, which has 426,000 subscribers, Football Is Nice, which has some 20,000 subscribers, and Stay Free With Russell Brand, which has 22,200 subscribers.

Brand still has a presence on Rumble, a video site popular with some conservative and far-right groups, where his channel has 1.4 million followers.

Brand, 48, denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and in The Times and Sunday Times newspapers. Among the accusers, who have not been named, one said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16. Another woman claims Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.

The four allegations date from between 2006 and 2013. The London Metropolitan Police said that since the allegations became public, they have received a report of a separate sexual assault dating from 2003.

Promoters have postponed the remaining dates of a series of Brand’s live concerts.

Known for his wild and risky stand-up routines, Brand was a major British star in the early 2000s. He hosted radio and television shows, wrote a memoir chronicling his battles with drugs and alcohol, appeared in several Hollywood films and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry between 2010 and 2012.

In recent years, Brand has largely disappeared from mainstream media, but has built a large following online with videos mixing wellness and conspiracy theories. His YouTube channel has featured COVID-19 conspiracy theories, vaccine misinformation, and interviews with controversial broadcasters including Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan.

He also continued to tour as a comedian, performing in front of hundreds of people at a London venue on Saturday. He was due to perform in Windsor, west London, on Tuesday, but promoters said the rest of the tour was being postponed following the allegations.