Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter

Russell Brand is a comedian and broadcaster who helped shape pop culture in the late noughties, going on to star in Hollywood films.

Brand developed a cult following for his views on politics and society over the years, more recently dabbling in the world of conspiracy theories, particularly since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

Stepping away from the directors and production teams of his TV and movie career, Brand's videos generally show him speaking directly to the camera in a single take, using his notable range of verbal dexterity to challenge the mainstream reporting of a range of subjects - and has also established himself as a wellness guru.

He now commands a following of four million on Instagram, 2.2 million on TikTok and 6.59 million on YouTube, for his near daily polemics on a range of subjects - with video titles including Do These Emails Prove Biden Is Corrupt And Lying?, What REALLY Started The Hawaii Fires? and THIS is How Gender Norms Are Affecting Men.

When one of his Covid videos was removed for breaking rules around misinformation, he launched a daily live show on a new platform, Rumble, titled Stay Free with Russell Brand.

Tom Gerken
Technology reporter

Image source, PA Media

At the top of the description of all but his most recent video commenting on the allegations, Russell Brand has a prominently-placed "spon" - a piece of sponsored content.

The companies include a skincare brand, a food supplement powder, a VPN, and a coffee alternative.

Brands pay for prominent sponsorship on videos earning hundreds of thousands of views, and will generally pay much more for the amount of conversions - people who buy the product using the link.

It’s impossible to accurately estimate how much this is for Russell Brand, as the finances are agreed on a case-by-case basis. But suffice to say, it is not uncommon for a YouTuber to make more money through spons than any other income source on the platform.

Tom Gerken
Technology reporter

There are lots of different ways for people to make money on YouTube.

One of the most obvious is through ad revenue. After gaining enough viewers, YouTubers can have ads running before and during their videos, earning varying amounts.

One YouTuber with half a million subscribers recently showed the BBC they made around £10,000 from a video with 1.5m views.

But the exact money made from videos can vary dramatically and be much lower - or even higher - than this.

Other ways of making money include channel memberships, where people subscribe to see more of your content, as well as "super chat" and "super thanks", where a viewer can pay to have their message to the creator appear more prominently.

But the big way YouTubers make money is through sponsorships, known as “spons” in the community.

Image source, Getty Images

The 48-year-old, who was born in Essex, surged to fame as the host of Big Brother's Big Mouth, and went on to star in Hollywood films, marry and divorce one of the world's most famous pop stars - Katy Perry - and cause one of the biggest scandals in the BBC's history.

Over the years, he developed a cult following for his views on politics and society, and more recently has dabbled in the world of conspiracy theories in videos posted on YouTube and Rumble.

But Brand started his career in entertainment as a stand-up comedian, performing at the Hackney Empire in 2000 and later the Edinburgh Fringe.

Much of his content drew on personal experience - Brand has always been open about his use of illegal drugs and addiction to sex.

He would later write about both, external in his autobiography My Booky Wook, and his experiences helped shape his political activism.

Paul Glynn & Tom Gerken
BBC News

Image source, JON KOPALOFF / GETTY

YouTube has suspended Russell Brand's channels from making money from adverts for "violating" its "creator responsibility policy". The video platform said it was taking action "to protect" its users.

"If a creator's off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action," said a YouTube spokesperson today.

In recent years the former TV and radio personality has re-positioned himself, posting regular videos about spirituality, politics and, recently, UFOs, to his 6.6 million followers.

YouTube's decision to block his revenue streams applies to "all channels that may be owned or operated" by the 48-year-old, it confirmed to the BBC.

While YouTube noted that such bans are rare, it did point to several examples including the suspension of adverts from the channels of Slovak internet personality David Dobrik and US YouTuber and make-up artist James Charles.

Speaking to the Guardian on Monday, external, Sara McCorquodale, chief executive of social media analysis agency CORQ, said Brand's YouTube channel would "most likely" be "making £2,000 to £4,000 per video, not taking into account any affiliate deals and brand sponsorships that might be running in the background".

Marita Moloney
Live reporter

Welcome to our live coverage after the comedian and actor Russell Brand was accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotional abuse.

This morning, YouTube has suspended Russell Brand's channels from making money from adverts for "violating" its "creator responsibility policy".

The video platform said it was taking action "to protect" its users.

It comes as four women made allegations of sexual assaults between 2006 and 2013, according to a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches, which were made public on Saturday.

Brand has denied all the allegations against him, claiming that his relationships have been“always consensual”.

I’m here with Thomas Mackintosh and Krystyna Gajda, stay with us as we bring you live updates and reactions throughout the day.