this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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YouTube suspends Russell Brand from making money off his channel — The suspension comes following the publication of rape and sexual assault allegations against the British star::YouTube has blocked Russell Brand from making money off its platform and the BBC pulled some of his shows from its online streaming service in the wake of rape and sexual assault allegations against the comedian-turned-influencer.

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[–] sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works 156 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I have no reason to doubt the allegations. But allegations shouldn't be enough for somebody to lose their livelihood.

[–] treefrog@lemm.ee 85 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Well I'm sure Google will be donating the money to sexual assault non profits rather than pocketing the profits right?

Right?

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[–] LarryTheMatador@sh.itjust.works 62 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (11 children)
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[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 15 points 1 year ago (3 children)

For 700 years one of the central principles of British law has been that someone shouldn't be punished without being brought in Answer by due Process of the Law.

It's scary how many people are willing to throw that out the window and behave like medieval peasants lynching witches.

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[–] WorldWideLem@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don't think it's that simple. Heinous allegations can make that business relationship untenable. YouTube has an image to protect as well as other partnerships to maintain. There are people (not just wealthy executives) whose livelihood relies on those things,.

If a person's reputation, fair or not, creates a risk to those things, why should YouTube be forced to assume that risk on their behalf?

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[–] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 97 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Google again pretending to be the moral police. Based on accusations of something that might or might not have happened 20 years ago. Apparently they don't have a problem with him being on their platform or showing ads on his videos though, they just want to save some money and look like they're doing the right thing (they are not).

[–] Fantomas@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Can't wait for a future where multibillion dollar corporations decide what's right and wrong and also who is and isn't guilty.

[–] admin@lemmy.my-box.dev 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What do you mean, wait?

[–] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] flossdaily@lemmy.world 93 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Just a reminder that there are a far more allegations against Trump, and Trump has been found liable for rape, and yet Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.

[–] topinambour_rex@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Even if I find this appealing, I wonder why you need to do this whataboutism.

[–] exohuman@programming.dev 25 points 1 year ago (24 children)

I think it’s important to point it out. The other rapist is exalted when he should be getting shut down too.

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[–] flossdaily@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Just trying to resolve some cognitive dissonance for Trump supporters who maybe haven't thought about it in these terms.

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[–] TurnItOff_OnAgain@lemmy.world 63 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Great, now demonitize the catholic church while you're at it.

[–] Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago (4 children)
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[–] erranto@lemmy.world 53 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Is it against YT TOS or did they take the liberty with this decision

Second, as much as I have always found him sketchy and a very irritating person, I am very alarmed by the erosion of people's right to be presumed innocent until found guilty. even when I know that he is quite capable of the committing those allegation

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A platform can choose themselves who they extend the platform to.

It may not be justice, but if Youtube decides to demonetise every video featuring red sweaters, then they have the liberty to do so.

[–] sugartits@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago (16 children)

That's too much power for a monopoly to have. And YouTube is quite close to a monopoly.

Maybe "more fool you" but entire livelihoods and businesses rely on YouTube not cutting them off at any random moment with no notice or warning.

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

My god... some of the commenters would make you think he was being sent to the lethal injection chamber.

The guy had his account demonetized. He's not even banned from YouTube. He can post as many videos as he wants. He just doesn't get paid for them. Which makes him... like most of us who post YouTube videos. The horror!

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[–] Petter1@lemm.ee 30 points 1 year ago (15 children)

It’s not the fucking job of YouTube to judge and punish. We have judges and the Criminal Code for that. We should not let us ruled by corporations!

[–] Copernican@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm guessing the challenge is advertisers. Advertisers buy ad space next to or in video content. No advertiser wants to buy ad space that is adjacent to or makes it look like they are supporting someone under public scrutiny for sexual assault allegations. So as Google, where you need to sell good ad space to paying advertisers, bother with running ads next to Russel Brand or just say no and make that clear to advertisers to build confidence?

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[–] kokesh@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (14 children)

I have no idea if he did or didn't any of the alleged. But what happened to innocent u til proven guilty? Anyone accused of anything these days gets cancelled.

[–] dudewitbow@lemmy.ml 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean there are definately people who havent been canceled. Reminder that Chris Brown is probably bigger than he once was and everyone knows hes actually beaten up people

[–] garretble@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Google is not the law, and they can do whatever they want with their company.

They don’t have to continue to pay him if they don’t want to — innocent, guilty, whichever. Just like they don’t have to continue to host nazi garbage or MAGA garbage if they don’t want to.

[–] pokemaster787@ani.social 21 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Google is not the law, and they can do whatever they want with their company.

Sure, but imagine your employer just fired you because of accusations before it ever reached trial. Illegal? No. Ruining someone's livelihood even though they're innocent legally speaking? Yes.

Not defending this person, I genuinely do not even know who they are. But "private company can do whatever they want, your rights are only something the government has to care about" is a pretty concerning position to take. Not to mention they didn't seem to take down or stop running ads on the channel, just stopped giving him the money. They're profiting off of his content without paying him and using an unverified (but very possibly accurate) accusation as an excuse. That should be illegal.

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[–] ryannathans@lemmy.fmhy.net 25 points 1 year ago (17 children)

If you ever get accused of a crime, your whole life should be cancelled as a precautionary measure /s

[–] DrZoidbergYes@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Another way this could be phrased is - Following serious allegations of rape and sexual assaults advertiser's do not wish to be associated with Russell Brand so YouTube stops showing their adverts on his channel

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[–] Fluid@aussie.zone 24 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Since when did innocent until proven guilty stop being a thing? Not defending anyone here, just seems that principle is all but forgotten in modern society.

[–] enthusiasticamoeba@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago (9 children)

That's only a legal principle - he's not in jail, is he? Individuals and organizations can do whatever they want. It has nothing to do with modern society.

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[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

Youtube cutting off their monetisation is not the same as putting the person in jail.

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

Guilty until proven Innocent, and even then still kinda guilty.

That's just how people operate today, and it's disgusting

Edit: Second sentence added for clarity

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[–] SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org 13 points 1 year ago (14 children)

It's kind of weird how so much of this thread seems to think a monetized YouTube channel is a human right or something

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[–] sndrtj@feddit.nl 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My dad got sucked into the Russell Brand woo during the pandemic. Maybe he'll finally come to his senses now this guy is an obvious fraud?

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[–] cricket97@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

It's a bit hard to accurately gauge these sorts of things when there is such a large incentive to lie about this stuff to get someone out of the political arena. This is inclusive of all sides. I don't know how we should properly go about these things but the truth is that there are entities with LOTS of money and connections who can ruin anyones life without any hard evidence in an instant. None of us know what happened, it's up to the court of law to properly determine things. But you'd be ignorant to think that the powers that be wouldn't throw rape accusations at anyone who is inconvenient to those in power.

[–] Specal@lemmy.world 38 points 1 year ago (5 children)

If you watched the piece, there is video evidence of him being a disgusting piece of shit regardless. There was footage of him forcefully kissing a presenter and undoing her bra. The police failed to investigate. These women were failed by lazy, misogynistic police, just like they always are.

To top it off, slander laws in the UK are very strict, no one is going to post accusations like this without serious evidence to back themselves up.

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