YouTube stops letting Russell Brand earn money on the platform
Screenshot by Emma Roth / The VergeYouTube has blocked Russell Brand from making money off the videos posted to his channel, as reported earlier by The New York Times. The decision to demonetize Brand’s account comes just days after...
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YouTube has blocked Russell Brand from making money off the videos posted to his channel, as reported earlier by The New York Times. The decision to demonetize Brand’s account comes just days after several reports detailing sexual assault allegations against the actor emerged.
Last week, a joint investigation from The Times of London, The Sunday Times, and Channel 4’s Dispatches found that four women accused Brand of sexual assault and abuse. Brand has since posted a video on YouTube refuting the allegations, calling them a “coordinated attack.”
While Brand has become known for his career as an actor and comedian, he has also amassed a large following on YouTube, with over 62 million subscribers. Many of his more recent videos focus on popular conspiracy theories, some of which spread misinformation about the covid vaccines and the Russia-Ukraine war.
When YouTube demonetizes a channel, it will no longer show ads on videos, preventing the creator from earning money. YouTube Jack Malon tells The Verge it suspended Brand from monetizing his videos for violating YouTube’s creator responsibility policy, adding, “If a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.” YouTube didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
YouTube has demonetized videos made by other high-profile figures on the platform in the past. In 2017, the company notably took action against Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg for making antisemitic comments as well as Logan Paul for filming a person who died by suicide in a Japanese forest. The platform also suspended Donald Trump’s account due to encouraging supporters to overturn the 2020 election.
