Russell Brand makes up to £350,000 from video views after rape claim
Russell Brand has raked in up to £350,000 from his video rants since being accused of rape and YouTube cut off the 48-year-old comic’s cash after four women made allegations against him, which he vehemently denies.
It comes as a film extra, who claimed he sexually assaulted her on a movie set in 2010, said the star’s behaviour left her feeling “disgusting”. The actress, who was an extra on romcom Arthur, alleges Brand attacked her in a bathroom while staff “guarded the door from the outside” during filming in Manhattan in July 2010.
She said: “I felt used and abused. Disgusting is the only word. I felt like I was being used, that I was just an object for his momentary titillation.”
Since Brand was first accused of rape in September, he has made an estimated £350,000 on video platform Rumble. The latest accuser filed a claim in New York on Friday.
She told the Sunday Times: “I am trying to get my power back by speaking up about it. And if there are other people who have had something like this happen, I want to help them have the courage to come forward. Because, honestly, that’s what gave me the strength to do this – when I read the other women’s allegations. Alone, I don’t think I would have felt able to. Hopefully when other women see another woman putting what happened to her out there, they will find the strength deep inside themselves to speak out.”
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Four women featured in September’s broadcast by Channel 4’s Dispatches, accusing Brand of emotional abuse as well as rape and sexual assault. Other claims have since emerged and police are investigating “a number of allegations of sexual offences”.
The woman behind the New York allegations is the first of the alleged victims to take legal action against the 48-year-old comic. The anonymous woman, known as Jane Doe, claims Brand “appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and was carrying a bottle of vodka on set”. She says he exposed himself to her in full view of the cast and crew, then followed her into the bathroom and assaulted her.
Russell Brand and his then-wife Katy Perry (Getty Images)
Dame Helen Mirren, Russell Brand and Greta Gerwig arrive at the UK Premiere of Arthur (PA)The court papers said the woman “continues to struggle with the resultant trauma”. Her lawyer, Jordan K Merson, said she is still an actor and “fears retaliation from future employers”. The woman is said to be seeking an unspecified value of damages from Brand, who married pop star Katy Perry three months after the alleged attack. They divorced in 2012.
Brand has vehemently insisted all of his relationships “were absolutely, always consensual”. YouTube banned the celebrity from monetising his videos when the allegations emerged. But his 51 clips on Rumble – which boasts of being “immune to cancel culture” – have been viewed 43 million times. Top earners on the site make about £8 per 1,000 views.
His videos have included anti-vaccine rants, talk of “surveillance robots” and a claim Google influenced the US Presidential election in favour of Joe Biden. Tory MP Nigel Mills said: “These sorts of companies have a responsibility. Parts of the internet are like the Wild West of disinformation.”
Brand, Warner Bros and the production companies MBST Entertainment, BenderSpink and Langley Park Pictures, which are also listed in the lawsuit, were approached for comment.
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