Art & Entertainment

Russell Brand Quits YouTube After He's 'Penalised' For Spreading Covid Misinformation

Comedian and actor Russell Brand has quit YouTube amid claims that he has been "censored" by the video-sharing platform.

Russell Brand
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Comedian and actor Russell Brand has quit YouTube amid claims that he has been "censored" by the video-sharing platform.

After one of his posts was "censored" with YouTube saying that it featured Covid disinformation, the outspoken comedian has relocated to Rumble, a rival online video platform, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"We have been officially censored by YouTube. They took down one of our videos for misinformation," Brand explained to his audience.

Russell, 47, explained that a previous clip was removed from YouTube after he "cited information on official government websites, which we misinterpreted".

The movie star shared the error and apologised for the mistake.

He said in a video message: "We made an apology video, we've taken that down as well. YouTube took down our original video, we've taken down the apology video because in case we reiterate the claim while apologizing for it.

"We made an error, in my opinion a relatively small error, and we're being penalised! For me, that looks like censorship, and the reason I think it looks like censorship is because there's mainstream media misinformation up all the time."

Russell also suggested that he'll be able to talk more "freely" on Rumble.


The 'Get Him to the Greek' star, who has been outspoken on various political and social issues on his YouTube channel, said: "I believe we're at a point of crisis, and things need to radically change, fast. And I believe we'll be able to communicate our message more freely on Rumble."

He also explained that people of different political persuasions will be welcome to join him on the new platform, saying: "I support and love all of you. If you love Donald Trump, I love you. If you love Joe Biden, I love you."