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Paramount+ has removed one of Russell Brand’s comedy specials after multiple women accused him of sexual assault, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
“Russell Brand in New York City” was available on the streaming platform Tuesday morning, according to screenshots taken by NBC News. It was not immediately clear when the hour-long special was dropped Tuesday.
The source provided no further comment.
“Live in New York City” was released in 2009, a year after Brand’s Hollywood breakout role in the romantic comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”
Brand’s most recent stand-up special, “Russell Brand Re:Birth,” remains available on Netflix. Netflix did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment on the status of “Re:Birth.”
Paramount is the latest organization to distance itself from Brand, who has denied sexual assault allegations. He has not been charged with any criminal offense.
YouTube confirmed earlier Tuesday that Brand would no longer make money from his channel on the video platform, saying in part that monetization of his account had been suspended “following serious allegations against the creator.”
The BBC, meanwhile, said it had removed some content featuring Russell from its streaming platforms iPlayer and BBC Sounds, after “assessing that it now fell short of audience expectations”.
Brand’s management agency, Tavistock Wood, ended all professional ties with him, saying in a statement: “Russell Brand has categorically and vehemently denied the allegations made in 2020, but we now believe we have been horribly misled by him.”
The Times of London and the Sunday Times of London, in partnership with the British current affairs show “Dispatches,” published a joint investigation on Saturday in which four women accused Brand of sexual assault, including one allegation of rape.
He was also accused of showing his genitals to a fifth woman.
The accusers have not been named or publicly identified. Among them, a woman claims that Brand sexually assaulted her during a relationship with him when she was 16 years old.
In the late 2000s, Brand rose to fame in the United States, thanks in part to his roles in the high-profile comedies “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek.” (The films were distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.)
In recent years, Brand has largely moved away from Hollywood and cultivated a large following as a political pundit known for his right-wing and contrarian views.
Brand’s YouTube account has 6.6 million followers, and he also hosts a show on Rumble, a video service popular with conservative commentators.
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