Meta has disabled Russell Brand's Instagram and Facebook accounts after the 51-year-old comedian was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for rape and sexual assault.
Brand was convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others during his career, and has been accused of abusing his celebrity status to prey on women.
Meta removes accounts with millions of followers
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, removed his accounts where he had millions of followers.
Brand's account on X, owned by Elon Musk, is still active and posted a screenshot of a message from Meta confirming his Instagram account had been deactivated.
The message read: “Your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our Community Standards.”
It continued: “What this means: No one can see or find your account and you can’t use it. All your information will be permanently deleted. You cannot request another review of this decision.”
Screenshots shared on X
An additional screenshot featured another message that read: “How we made this decision. Our technology found our account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our rules. As a result, a member of our team took action. We use the same rules around the world, and for everyone on Instagram.”
Brand's X account wrote alongside the screenshots: “There never was a Russell Brand, according to @meta. Thank God for @elonmusk. Stay tuned.”
It is unclear who posted the message from Brand's X account. Meta has been contacted for comment.
Career and sentencing
Brand began his career as a TV presenter and comedian and later became a Hollywood star, appearing in films such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hop and the Despicable Me franchise.
Over his two-decade career, he also cemented his status in the spotlight through his marriage to singer Katy Perry, and his subsequent appearances on TV, radio, stage and podcasts.
He is expected to serve two thirds of his prison sentence before being released on licence, and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Separately, fellow comedian David Walliams was named as part of an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News the day after Brand was jailed. The best-selling author and former Britain's Got Talent judge has been accused of sexual misconduct and abusing his power to groom teenagers as young as 15, but denies any wrongdoing.
Brand's conviction and the media furore surrounding his peer Walliams have since sparked discussion about the procedures in the TV industry for people to raise safeguarding issues.
