Elon Musk falls out with Russell Brand: Twitter boss says comic’s latest rant is ‘rather disappointing’ because it plugged Rumble rather than his own service – but has nothing to say on rape and assault claims

Elon Musk appears to have fallen out with Russell Brand after being left ‘disappointed’ by the comedian who plugged social media platform Rumble in his latest YouTube rant instead of his own service – but had no say in the allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse. comedian currently faces.

Last night Brand broke his silence since the allegations came to light, claiming he has had an “extraordinary and disturbing week” after being accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by multiple women.

In a short three-minute video, the under-fire comedian thanked his followers for their “support and for questioning the information you have been given.”

Musk, owner of

Brand’s new video came just hours after a woman claimed the strip made her feel “vulnerable and intimidated” and refused to call a taxi to let her leave until she performed a sex act.

Musk, owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, said Brand’s comments were “quite disappointing.”

Musk responded last night to a user who shared Brand’s video, without alluding to the terrible series of accusations he has faced, saying: “It’s quite disappointing that he’s solely pressuring Rumble, while X might as well protect the freedom of expression has supported.’

It marks a significant change from the billionaire businessman, who previously appeared to voice his support for Brand.

In response to the comic’s claims that the accusations against him were the result of a campaign to silence him, Musk said: “Of course they don’t like competition.”

This seemed to be a reference to the mainstream media, but Musk’s change of position means Brand has lost one of its few major backers.

Brand is facing claims he raped, sexually assaulted and emotionally abused several women after the Times and Channel 4 conducted a joint investigation into his conduct.

The documentary featured four women, including one who claims Brand raped her against the wall of his LA home after she refused to have a threesome with him and another woman.

Brand posted a preemptive denial the day before the allegations were published, claiming that he had spoken publicly about his promiscuity and that all of his sexual encounters and relationships were consensual.

Since the investigation, which lasted more than a year, more women have come forward with new allegations, including one who described Brand exposing himself to her – before joking about it on a BBC radio show.

‘Olivia’ came forward this week claiming Brand exposed himself to her in an office where BBC Los Angeles operated in 2008.

Brand is facing claims he raped, sexually assaulted and emotionally abused several women after the Times and Channel 4 carried out a joint investigation into his behavior

Musk initially appeared to support the comedian’s dismissal of the serious allegations against him

The comic is said to have been in the building on June 16 that year filming a pre-recorded edition of his BBC Radio 2 programme.

The programme, which came out just five days later, featured a clip of Brand and his co-presenter appearing to joke about the incident, with his co-presenter Matt Morgan commenting: ‘It’s been 25 minutes since he hooked his dick to a lady showed. .’

She claimed she answered the door to Brand and his team before going to the bathroom to get some medicine.

When she turned around from the medicine cabinet, she claims Brand was standing in front of her with his crotch in her face. She claimed he remarked, “I think you’re fine…I’m going to fuck you.”

She added that as she tried to turn him down, Brand pulled out his penis and “served it to me like you would someone serving food.”

Media outlets including the BBC have launched internal investigations to investigate the time Brand spends on their content.

Last night, Brand did not directly address the allegations against him, but made baseless accusations of a conspiracy to “target, patrol, stifle and shut down independent media organizations.”

He said: “Hello there, awakening miracles, it has clearly been an extraordinary and disturbing week and I thank you very much for your support and for questioning the information that has been presented to you.

‘You probably know by now that the UK government has asked major tech platforms to censor our online content and some online platforms have complied with that request.

‘What you may not know is that this is happening in the context of the Online Safety Act, a piece of UK legislation that grants wide-ranging surveillance and censorship powers, and it is a law that has already been passed.’

He added: ‘I also can’t imagine that you’ve ever heard of the Trust News initiative and now, as is often the case when a word like Trusted is used as part of an acronym to describe an unelected To describe the body, trust is the last. what you should offer.

“The Trusted News initiative is a collaboration between major tech companies and traditional media organizations to target, patrol, stifle and shut down independent media organizations like this one.”

Brand said he would return his show to Rumble – an online video platform where subscribers pay a minimum of $60 (£48) to watch – after advertising on his YouTube channel was suspended in light of the allegations.

Brand denies all allegations against him and previously said all his relationships were ‘consensual’.