Publishers Pull Russell Brand Books, Streamers Keep His Films Live

By Amara Osei

Two publishers pulled Russell Brand's books from circulation within a day of his London rape conviction — while Netflix, Amazon and YouTube continue to carry his films and his channel of more than 6,000 videos.

A jury convicted Brand on Thursday of rape and sexual assault. Sentencing is scheduled for Monday, and the comedian faces up to nine years in prison, according to the case against him.

The split response illustrates how differently publishers and streaming platforms treat the work of an artist after a criminal conviction — especially material released years ago, in which Brand often played only supporting roles.

What did the publishers do?

Hodder & Stoughton, the British publisher of Brand's 2007 memoir "My Booky Wook" and his 2007 football book "Irons in the Fire," acted fast. A company spokesperson said by email on Friday that the publisher "retirou de circulação os dois livros de Russell Brand que havia publicado" — withdrew from circulation the two Russell Brand books it had published — and declined further comment.

Henry Holt & Co., the U.S. publisher of "Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions" (2017) and "Mentors: How to Help and Be Helped" (2019), pulled both titles from sale on Thursday. One was already out of print. "Estamos retirando todo o estoque de venda — incluindo edições impressas, em áudio e e-books — e removeremos o autor de nosso site," a spokesperson said — the company is removing all saleable stock, including print, audio and e-book editions, and will remove the author from its website.

Not everyone is retreating. Tony Lyons of Skyhorse, which published Brand's "How to Become a Christian in 7 Days" this year under its new Tucker Carlson Books imprint, said the company "não tem planos de retirar os livros de Russell Brand de circulação" — it has no plans to withdraw Brand's books. "Caso alguma outra editora decida cancelar a publicação dos livros dele, teremos o prazer de publicá-los," he added, saying Skyhorse would happily publish them if another publisher cancels. He framed the stance as opposition to censorship.

Publishing, in short, has split into two camps — with one side framing withdrawal as accountability and the other as suppression.

Why are streamers still carrying Brand?

Netflix subscribers in the U.S. could still watch "Minions 2: A Origem de Gru" (2022) on Friday, in which Brand voices Dr. Nefario. On the UK platform, users could stream several Brand titles, including two "St. Trinian's" films and Kenneth Branagh's "Death on the Nile" (2022). Netflix declined to comment.

Amazon, which offers several Brand films for purchase or rental on Prime, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Universal did not answer whether it plans to re-edit the Minions film to remove Brand — though it dropped him from the franchise in 2024.

The silence is notable because platforms have moved quickly before. YouTube removed two R. Kelly channels in 2022 after the singer's conviction for sexual crimes. Yet Brand's channel, with more than 6 million subscribers, remains live. A YouTube spokesperson would not answer questions about its future.

The calculus may be harder for films. Brand frequently played secondary characters, so pulling his content would also punish the lead stars of works released nearly two decades ago.

What about Brand's own channel?

YouTube stopped letting Brand earn money from his channel after a 2023 investigation by three British news outlets, in which four women accused him of sexual assault, including one rape accusation. A YouTube spokesperson said at the time that Brand had violated the platform's "creator responsibility policy," adding: "Se o comportamento de um criador fora da plataforma prejudica nossos usuários, funcionários ou ecossistema, tomamos medidas para proteger a comunidade" — if a creator's off-platform behavior harms users, employees or the ecosystem, the platform acts to protect the community.

Robert Topinka, an academic at Birkbeck University in London who has researched Brand's YouTube output, said that by around 2020 Brand had all but stopped acting and performing mainstream comedy. He pivoted to conspiracy-theory videos on U.S. politics, global politics and the pandemic. "Mesmo antes de surgirem as acusações contra ele, ele já havia migrado para esse outro universo," Topinka observed — even before the accusations surfaced, Brand had already migrated to that other universe.

The divide also reflects a deeper disagreement between traditional and contemporary media: whether audiences should decide what to consume, or whether publishers and platforms should decide for them. With sentencing on Monday, the platforms' silence — and Brand's still-monetizable-by-audience back catalog — will face its next test.