Related Articles
A YouTube executive said that while Russell Brand has been demonetized on the platform, the actor-comedian will not be banned amid accusations of rape and sexual assault.
On Tuesday, YouTube suspended Brand’s ability to monetize his channel — which has 6 million subscribers — and halted advertisements on his videos, saying that Brand had violated YouTube’s “Creator Responsibility policy.”
“If a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.
YouTube’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa Vice President Pedro Pina explained the company’s decision at a panel Wednesday (via Variety), “Essentially, he is not able to make a living through YouTube. We don’t believe that should happen.”
However, when asked if Brand would be banned from YouTube, Pina added, “We don’t tolerate harmful content. Right now, from our point of view, we don’t have harmful content byRussell Brand.”
YouTube previously took action against Brand when some of his videos — which have teetered into conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination rants — were accused of spreading “medical misinformation.” “If we find out over the next days, weeks, there is more reason to take more action, we will see,” Pina said of a blanket ban.
ATimesinvestigationpublished Saturday centered onfour women who have accused him of rapeandsexual assaultbetween 2008 and 2013. The allegations against Brand were also brought forth in an episode of the Channel 4 investigative showDispatchesthataired Saturday night in the U.K.
The report has promptedBrand’s agency to drop himandU.K. police to urge other potential victimsto come forward.Along with being dropped by his agency, Brand’s U.K. publisher, Bluebird,decided to pause all book releasesrelated to Brand, including his next book,Recovery: The Workbook, which was scheduled to be published in December.The BBC has also opened an internal investigation covering the years Brand was employed there, from 2006 to 2008.
Before the article was published and the episode premiered, Brand turned tosocial mediaFriday to post a video where he pre-emptively defended himself against forthcoming “extremely egregious and aggressive attacks” that he “absolutely refutes.”
