Comedian Russell Brand has been accused of rape and sexual assault by four women during the height of his fame. As a result, his content has been pulled by the BBC and YouTube has demonetized his account.
The British comedian has vehemently denied the allegations, claiming all of his sexual interactions have been consensual. “I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent. And I’m being transparent about it now,” said Brand.
Brand has amassed 6.6 million subscribers on YouTube, with experts estimating he makes between $2,500 and $5,000 per video he publishes.
YouTube claims Brand has violated the company’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.”
Conservative media figures rushed to Brand’s defense, calling the action by the video platform “insane” and a bad precedent.
However, on the other side of the political aisle, other commenters mocked both the comedian and those who came to his defense.
