Furthering its history of censorship and war on free speech, YouTube rushed to demonetize British actor and comedian Russell Brand following a bunch of rape accusations shot at him by a number of anonymous women.
Brand, who has over 6 million subscribers on YouTube and earns an estimated $61,0000 monthly from his videos on the platform, was accused by four women of sexual assault and emotional abuse, later joined in by a fifth one. The allegations were made over the weekend and published by The Times of London, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches on Saturday (September 16). Immediately after the allegations, without corroboration or considering Brand’s denial, Russell Brand’s management agency severed its ties with the actor. Three days later, YouTube announced that Brand can stay on the platform, but it stripped him of the ability to make money from his channel.
Brand and his followers see the attacks on him as a coordinated scheme of the mainstream media and tech to silence him via character assassination. On September 15, Brand posted a video to his Twitter/X profile wherein he categorically denied the rape allegations against him while acknowledging that in his younger years he has been promiscuous but his relationships have always been absolutely consensual. He also stated that there are witnesses whose evidence contradicts the mainstream media’s narrative against him.
This is happening pic.twitter.com/N8zIKLbJN2
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) September 15, 2023
Many voices in conservative media came out in support of Brand. Allison Pearson of the British daily Telegraph called the decision by YouTube “appalling” and the “Orwellian unpersonning of Russell Brand” that will affect his chances of getting a fair trial.
“Not only does this Orwellian unpersonning of Russell Brand violate a fundamental tenet of a free society – these are still only allegations remember – it makes the prospect of a fair trial, should he ever be charged, unlikely.”
The Daily Mail wrote on Wednesday (September 20) that even Brand’s critics are calling out his cancelation arbitrary and unjustified.
Brand was further attacked from within the British government when Member of Parliament Caroline Dinenage, a conservative, asked the free speech video platform Rumble to cancel Brand. Rejecting her call for censorship, Rumble’s CEO Chris Pavlovski called Dinenage’s message “deeply inappropriate and dangerous.”
GB News reported that owing to her attempt to get Brand off Rumble, Dinenage is now facing calls to resign from her office as Chair of the Culture, Media & Sport Committee. Broadcaster and Journalist Michael Crick called her messages to Rumble “absolutely outrageous” and “something from the world of Stalinism.”
Conservatives on other social media platforms also called out the hypocrisy of those attacking Russel Brand over mere allegations and asked why repeated sex abuse allegations against big names were suppressed by media.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12540947/YouTube-slammed-demonetizing-Russell-Brands-channel-sexual-assault-allegations-perilous-business-appoint-judge-jury-premature-executioner.html/
https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/583367-russell-brand-rumble-demonetization/
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/quit-now-calls-for-caroline-dinenage-to-go-as-it-emerges-rumble-row-mp-didnt-clear-russell-brand-letter-with-own-committee/ar-AA1h46su
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/russell-brands-management-agency-terminates-ties-sexual-assault-allega-rcna105476