Russell Brand made up to £350,000 from Rumble conspiracy videos since rape claim and YouTube demonetisation

Actor turned online conspiracy theorist Russell Brand, who was accused of rape and sexual assault in a September Channel 4 Dispatches special, Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, is believed to have made up to £350,000 since moving to online platform Rumble.

YouTube demonetised Brand’s channel, which has 6.7 million subscribers and 2,400 videos, in the wake of the Dispatches episode, and Brand announced that he would upload all of his videos on Rumble, though he regularly shares his videos on both platforms.

Russell Brand has had a Rumble account since September 2021 but it was only after being demonetized on YouTube that he announced it would be his primary platform for sharing content. Rumble claims that it is immune to cancel culture, and published a letter in defence of Brand in September in which they claimed they were committed to defending a free internet.

He now has more than 1.7 million Rumble subscribers and his most watched videos include an interview with right-wing former Fox New host Tucker Carlson, and one in which he thanks his fans for questioning the information they were presented with following the Dispatches broadcast.

How much has Russell Brand made on Rumble?

In the time that Brand has been demonetized by YouTube he has released 29 pre-recorded videos on Rumble and 30 livestreams, amassing around 43 million views.

The most popular Rumble creators are reported to earn £8 per 1,000 views on the site - at this rate Brand will have earned roughly 344,000 from the site since 16 September. This works out at an average of about £5,800 per video upload.

In comparison, Brand was estimated to have earned around £2,000 to £4,000 per video on YouTube, prior to being demonetized, netting him around £1 million per year.

What are the allegations against Russell Brand?

The Dispatches special on Channel 4, which was part of a lengthy joint investigation with The Times and Sunday Times featured four women who accused Brand of emotional abuse, sexual assault, and rape.

Following the episode airing in September other accusers have come forward - most recently from an unnamed woman who was cast as an extra in the 2011 film Arthur. The woman claimed that Brand exposed himself to her in front of people on the set and later sexually assaulted her in a restroom. 

Two British police forces are investigating Russell Brand in connection to allegations of harassment and stalking, and sexual offences. No arrests have been made. Brand denied all of the allegations made against him in the Dispatches special and said that all of his sexual relationships have always been consensual.