YouTube on Tuesday suspended comedian and actor Russell Brand from making money from videos posted to the social media platform, three days after British news organizations published an investigation in which several women accused Brand of sexual assault.
The channel is a potentially important source of income for Brand, which made money through paid advertisements and promotions.
A YouTube spokeswoman said in an email that Brand, whose channel on the platform has 6.6 million subscribers, was suspended for violating YouTube’s rules.creator liability policy.”
“If a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community,” the spokesperson said.
The spokeswoman did not respond to a question about how long the suspension would last.
Brand posted a clip on his channel Friday denying what he called “serious criminal allegations.” That statement was published a day before The Times of London and Sunday Times of London, and Dispatches, a television program, published their joint research in which four women accused Mr. Brand of sexual assault, including one allegation of rape.
Mr. Brand was once a radio and television star in Britain and in 2007 published a best-selling memoir. She had a brief career in Hollywood that included a role in the 2008 romantic comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” but lately she has transitioned into making online videos, hosting wellness events and touring comedy shows.
While Brand’s previous monologues had a broadly left-wing focus, attacking the British establishment and examining issues such as social inequality, he has recently shifted to content more aligned with conservative talking points, which often appear to be aimed at an American audience. On YouTube, recent videos have included Mr. Brand talking about his skepticism towards Covid-19 vaccines and analyzing his own appearances on Fox News.
Brand also hosts a show on Rumble, a social network associated with conservative voices, but did not appear on a broadcast scheduled for Monday.
