YouTube is slammed for demonetizing Russell Brand’s channel over sexual assault allegations: ‘It’s perilous for any business to appoint itself judge, jury and premature executioner’
YouTube is facing widespread criticism for its decision to strip comedian Russell Brand of the right to make money through advertisements on his popular channel after a series of women came forward with disturbing allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Brand is accused of attacking four women who anonymously told their stories to Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Times.
Brand insists he is innocent and the victim of an attack by the ‘mainstream media’ – a claim many of his supporters embrace.
Despite the shocking nature of the allegations, which include an abusive relationship with a 16-year-old girl when he was 31, he has not been arrested nor charged with any crime.
The Metropolitan Police in London are investigating a separate allegation against Brand relating to a 2003 incident, but say they have not received any reports relating to the allegations in the documentary or newspaper report.
Brand has since been crucified and tortured in the court of public opinion.
Scroll down for video
Russell Brand left the Troubadour Wembley Park theater in London on Saturday after the allegations against him were made public
Brand released this video on his YouTube account, vehemently denying the allegations
Yesterday, YouTube announced that although he can remain on the platform, he will no longer be allowed to make money from his channel.
“When a creator’s off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community,” the streaming site said. The BBC has also removed Brand’s shows from its iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
That decision is now being rejected — not just by Brand’s own fans — but by others who say it is premature given Brand’s own denial and a lack of due process amid overwhelming public interest and opinion.
Among them is Piers Morgan, who said on his Talk TV program last night: ‘As far as we all know at this point, they are allegations, albeit very serious ones, that have been made in extremely well-researched investigative journalism.
“There’s something Orwellian about a company saying it will still host its videos and keep millions of eyes on their platform, but won’t share the revenue.
“In a free, democratic society, it is dangerous for any powerful company to appoint itself as judge, jury and perhaps premature executioner.”
Morgan has the same level of criticism for Brand fans or naysayers who have rushed to assume he is the victim of a mainstream media witch hunt.
Response: Many have condemned YouTube’s decision as premature, as Brand has yet to be arrested or charged with a crime
‘The way the story plays out online is evidence of a slightly bigger problem: tribalism. Millions of people have followed RB’s defense without even reading the horrific claims against him.
“They think it’s a conspiracy by the mainstream media to crush a man who has gotten too close to the truth. I personally think that’s nonsense.
“Millions of others have condemned him based on their opinions, forcing companies to end his career before he has a fair trial. I think it is also wrong for them to race to a point of conviction.”
Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson called YouTube’s decision “terrible.”
‘Whatever your views on the Russell Brand scandal – and there are four serious allegations of rape, sexual assault and ’emotional abuse’ against him – YouTube’s decision that he has 6.5 million subscribers is simply appalling. Chilling out actually.
“Not only does this Orwellian incarnation of Russell Brand violate a fundamental principle of a free society – these are still just accusations – it makes the prospect of a fair trial, should he ever be charged, unlikely.
One accuser, Alice (pictured), claims that Russell Brand sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old. She claims he would send a car to pick her up from high school, which she has since claimed was a ‘BBC car’
“Our system holds that a man is innocent until proven guilty. The attempt to expose Russell Brand is almost as disturbing as the sins he is accused of,” she wrote in her column on Tuesday.
Brendan O’Neill of The Spectator also writes that it is “wrong” for YouTube to take away his livelihood, and The Washington Examiner also condemned the move.
Likewise, conservatives, including Megyn Kelly, are urging caution against believing Brand’s claim that he is the victim of a mainstream media witch hunt.
Megyn Kelly said on her SiriusXM show, “I realize the knee-jerk instinct of so many right now is, ‘Russell Brand is being wrongly accused.’ These women are all liars.
“Would you please, once again, remain open to the possibility that the women are telling the truth?
“We don’t need to over-correct the #MeToo movement to the point where every woman is completely ignored and called a liar if she has the audacity to come forward and make an accusation.
‘Maybe they’re telling the truth!’
Brand received immediate support from Elon Musk and Andrew Tate, who himself is accused of sex trafficking in Eastern Europe. Many argue that he is being unfairly targeted by the “left.”
