Two companies that previously sponsored comedian and actor Russell Brand on YouTube have pulled away from the personality and said they don’t plan to continue working with him after four women made sexual assault allegations against him. Brand denied the allegations. Brand and his representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his sponsors.
Brand has spent the last several years building up his YouTube audience and career as an influencer and speaker, peddling some false conspiracy theories about topics like the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. He has over 6.6 million YouTube subscribers. But in the wake of an investigative report from The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 that detailed numerous sexual assault allegations against him, Brand’s ability to make money on the platforms where he has the biggest audiences has taken a hit.
In his videos, Brand frequently promotes companies and products that strike sponsorship deals with him.
Of 10 companies that have sponsored Brand contacted by NBC News, two, Sticker Mule and Vivobarefoot — a custom sticker maker and a “minimalist running shoe company” — said they were suspending work with the personality.
In a statement, Sticker Mule said it was “suspending their relationship with Russell Brand pending further information.” Vivobarefoot said it sponsored Brand over the summer, “before any of the recent allegations were raised,” and that any remaining activity with Brand “has been stopped.” The companies did not elaborate beyond these statements.
Other companies that sponsor Brand on YouTube, including the popular male grooming company Manscaped and the well-known VPN internet service ExpressVPN, didn’t respond to requests for comment. And one brand, Black Forest Supplements, said it was reserving judgment.
The statements came following YouTube’s announcement Tuesday that it was suspending Brand’s channel from its monetization program, which means Brand can no longer receive income from ads served by YouTube on his videos. Previously, he was a YouTube Partner, which meant he received a cut of the income from ads that played on his videos.
Meta didn’t respond to a request for comment about hosting Brand’s content on their platforms, while TikTok declined to comment on the record. Brand has 4 million Instagram followers and almost 6 million followers on Facebook, both of which are Meta platforms. He also has 2.3 million followers on TikTok, although Brand is not a part of TikTok’s creator program, which means he does not make money from videos he posts on TikTok.
Brand can still make money from other sponsorships on his content, which is available on multiple social media and podcast platforms. One of his sponsors, Black Forest Supplements, says on its website that its products are for men and are meant to “bring back traditional masculinity” and help users become “true alpha males.”
In a statement, the supplement brand’s CEO Antonio Colmenares said the company was “waiting for more evidence in the matter” before changing its relationship with Brand.
“[…] we believe that someone is innocent until proven guilty,” Colmenares wrote. “Additionally, we know that Russell speaks out against Big Pharma, FDA, Media, and the War in Ukraine. So he definitely has some powerful enemies.”
Colmenares’ response reflects Brand’s own statements about the allegations — which he issued in a video the day before the investigative report — and the conspiracy theories that have overtaken online discussion about him. Brand suggested that the investigative report was a “coordinated media attack” with an “agenda” following Brand’s efforts to “attack, critique, and undermine the news.” Powerful figures including Elon Musk and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson have since made statements supporting the idea that Brand is innocent.
According to the Times and Channel 4, the joint investigative report was the result of years of reporting and interviews with hundreds of sources. One woman interviewed said Brand raped her in his home, and provided medical records from a rape crisis center she visited later that day, the report said. Another woman who is now in her 30s told The Times and Channel 4 that she was 16 (the age of consent in the U.K.) and Brand was 30 when they had a relationship she said included abuse and sexual assault.
Following the publication of the report, Brand’s management agency severed ties with him and said it had been “horribly misled” by him. Brand also postponed upcoming U.K. comedy shows, while the BBC has pulled some of his shows from its online streaming service. Paramount+ also removed Brand’s comedy show from its service.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
