Russell Brand has monetization suspended on YouTube amid assault allegations

The fallout over recent sexual assault allegations against Rusell Brand continues. Over the weekend, a new report brought to light the accounts of four women who had encounters with Brand, including one who was only 16 years old at the time of her relationship with the comedian. Brand has denied any instance of assault, claiming that any encounters with the women were consensual.

On Tuesday, YouTube said in a statement that it had “suspended monetization” on Brand‘s channel for violating its “creator responsibility policy,” per NBC News. YouTube has been Brand’s primary platform in recent years; he’s amassed a following of more than 6.6 million followers with content that ranges from lifestyle to politics to health to conspiracy. Following the bombshell report, a spokesperson for YouTube stated, “If a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.”

In addition, some programming that featured Brand has been removed from the BBC and Channel 4. “The BBC does not ban or remove content when it is a matter of public record, unless we have justification for doing so,” a spokesperson for the broadcaster said. “There is limited content featuring Russell Brand on iPlayer and Sounds. We’ve reviewed that content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations.”

The BBC director general Tim Davie has further announced an investigation into Brand’s time with the corporation (one accuser claimed Brand sent a BBC car to pick her up from school and bring her to his house). Davie reportedly told staff that when he “listened back” to some of the broadcasts featured in the Channel 4 documentary Russell Brand: In Plain Sight: Dispatches, “I go, that is just completely unacceptable.” He said, “What led to that being on air? Now there are, you know, different times and all of that, but I just look at that stuff and I say there is no way I will listen to that, there’s no way I accept it.”

Brand has also been dropped from his management agency in the wake of the allegations, and made the decision to suspend the rest of his comedy tour. “We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we don’t like doing it—but we know you’ll understand,” a spokesperson for Brand said on Monday (via NBC News).