Russell Brand news: Elon Musk faces questions over comedian’s Twitter status after coming to defence

Social media site X has been asked by a senior MP if owner Elon Musk, who changed its name from Twitter, “has personally intervened in any decisions on Russell Brand’s status on the platform”.

Following rape and sexual assault allegations being made against Brand, online content platforms that host his content including YouTube and podcasting company Acast said that he will not make money from advertisements on their sites and apps.

Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage has written to other video hosting sites and social media outlets on Wednesday to ask whether Brand can make “profit from his content” on their platforms.

These include X, where the presenter has 11.2 million followers on the site formerly known as Twitter, right-wing video platform Rumble where has 1.4 million followers, and Instagram which has 3.8 million followers and is run by Meta.

Dame Caroline also pointed to a response by Mr Musk following Brand posting a video on Friday denying the allegations and the comedian and actor saying he has been “promiscuous” but that all of his relationships have been “consensual”.

In the communication to X chief executive Linda Yaccarino, Dame Caroline said: “We would be grateful if you could confirm whether Mr Brand monetises his content and, if so, we would like to know whether X intends to join YouTube in suspending Mr Brand’s ability to earn money on the platform.

“Given Elon Musk’s response to Mr Brand’s tweet regarding the allegations, where he wrote ‘Of course. They don’t like competition’, we are also keen to understand whether Mr Musk has personally intervened in any decisions on Mr Brand’s status on the platform.

“We would also like to know what X is doing to ensure that creators are not able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate and potentially illegal behaviour.”

Russell Brand left the series Roast Battle on Comedy Central after co-star Katherine Ryan kept mentioning sexual abuse claims on camera, a new report claims.

Brand, 48, was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women as part of a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches last weekend. He has vehemently denied all allegations and maintained that all of his sexual relationships were consensual.

Ryan starred in the first season of Roast Battle alongside Brand and Jimmy Carr in 2018. Brand departed after six episodes, with Jonathan Ross taking his spot as a judge.

“There is a lot to be horrified by when it comes to the allegations facing Russell Brand. As part of a lengthy investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times, and Channel 4’s Dispatches, there are detailed accounts of sexual assault, emotional abuse, and controlling behaviour.

“There are claims he exploited his position as a public figure to exert power over younger, more junior colleagues, alongside suggestions of grooming and coercion. It is harrowing, to say the least. (Brand vehemently denied the allegations in a video released on Friday, saying that his relationships have been “absolutely always consensual”.)

“Published last weekend, the allegations have prompted a surge in online discourse around sexual violence. There is talk of further criminality, culpability of his employers, and a culture of silence that meant Brand and his reputation were, for a long time, professionally impenetrable. But there is one thing very few people are discussing – and it’s something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. That’s because it happened to me.”

Read more from Olivia Petter here

The video-streaming platform Rumble says its CEO received a “disturbing” letter from the head of a UK parliamentary committee, which called for Russell Brand to be denied advertising revenue on the site due to recent allegations of rape and sexual harassment.

The platform, in a statement posted on X, said on Wednesday that its CEO Chris Pavlovski had received the letter from Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the culture, media and sport committee.

“We regard it as deeply inappropriate and dangerous that the UK Parliament would attempt to control who is allowed to speak on our platform or to earn a living from doing so,” the statement said.

Brand has 1.4 million followers on Rumble, which has attracted a large number of right-wing content creators with its loose approach to moderation.

The alleged assaults occurred between 2006 and 2013, while Brand was presenting shows for the BBC and Channel 4. Brand has vehemently denied all allegations, saying all of his relationships have been consensual.

As the allegations spark inquiries by the BBC and Channel 4, questions from MPs and a widespread debate about the UK’s comedy scene, many on social media have been asking why it took so long for the allegations against Brand to be made public.

Read more from Roisin O’Connor here:

Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon has said the Russell Brand allegations show that “terrible behaviour” towards women has been “historically tolerated” in the television industry.

Ms Mahon addressed the claims against the former Channel 4 presenter as she opened the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention on Wednesday 20 September.

“The allegations made against Russell Brand are horrendous and as a CEO of Channel 4 and as a woman in our industry, I found the behaviours described in Dispatches and The Sunday Times and The Times articles disgusting and saddening,” she said.

Brand has strongly denied the rape and sexual assault allegations which span between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame while working for the broadcaster, BBC and starring in Hollywood films.

Brand, 48, had been due to take part in The Wanderlust Festival in February 2024. Both the festival and Brand have agreed not to proceed with his shows.

His alleged actions took place between 2005 and 2013, during which time Brand acted as a presenter for both BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4. Brand has vehemently denied all claims.

The outlets have since reported that several more women have come forward with similar allegations, which are now being “rigorously checked”.

While Brand has not been banned from YouTube in the wake of recent allegations, the site did say that it would remove the ability to monetise his videos there through advertising. In the wake of that recent announcement, some – including ex-Fox News presenter Dan Bongino, who is both a shareholder in the platform and one of its biggest stars – have suggested that Brand could instead take his videos to that site.

He would be just the latest alternative creator, many of whom are conservatives who have run into moderation issues on other more mainstream sites, to focus on the platform. Already, even as he was able to use YouTube as normal, he has gathered a sizeable following on Rumble: Brand has 1.4 million followers, nearly as many as the 2.3 million he has on TikTok.

Rumble began in 2013, and for a long time operated quietly as yet another video-sharing site that most of the world hadn’t heard of; Rumble says that its early years were about “empowering […] small content creators”. It wasn’t until around 2020 that the site became the rising and alternative centre that it has become today.

“Why are they only talking about this now?” “Why didn’t they report it to the police?” “Did they bring it upon themselves?” “Are they doing it for the money?” “Is this all just a plan to take down another successful man?”

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the president of the United States, a stand-up comedian or someone’s brother-in-law – when women speak out about alleged male violence, we hear the same, predictable responses.

Even before the allegations of sexual assault and rape had been shared by The Sunday Times, thousands took to social media to criticise the women as liars, attention seekers, fame-hungry, mentally ill… even plants from the government.

Anything but telling the truth.

Russell Brand was widely condemned in 2008 after prank-calling an emergency rape phoneline during a stand-up routine.

The controversial incident is attracting renewed attention, after Brand, 48, accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women, with the alleged incidents taking place between 2006 and 2013.

Brand vehemently denied the allegations in a video released before the report by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches was made public, saying that his relationships have been “absolutely always consensual”.