Russell Brand’s videos on YouTube have been demonetized by the streaming channel—stopping him from earning advertising revenue on them—as the fallout continues from sexual assault allegations.
Over the weekend, Brand was publicly hit with accusations from four women of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse over a seven-year period. According to a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Dispatches, the women claimed they were sexually assaulted between 2006 and 2013. At the time, Brand was a presenter on radio and television in the U.K. and an actor in Hollywood.
Brand has denied the allegations and said in a video posted on Friday on X, formerly Twitter, that his relationships have been “always consensual.” He also stated that he seriously refutes “these very serious criminal allegations.”
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As the fallout from the allegations continues, YouTube has announced that it has suspended Brand’s monetization on its platform in a move to “protect” its users.
“We have suspended monetisation on Russell Brand’s channel for violating our creator responsibility policy,” the platform announced on Tuesday. “If a creator’s off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.