LONDON, ENGLAND: British comedian Russell Brand is worth $20 million, a fortune he amassed thanks to his several ventures including shows, authorships, and Hollywood movies.
Brand, 48, had to postpone his UK tour of comedy shows scheduled in September after the ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ star was accused of committing rape and sexual abuse between 2006 and 2013 in a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times, and Channel 4.
Following the allegations of sexual abuse and grooming by at least four women, the promoters of Brand's ‘Bipolarisation’ tour have postponed the “few remaining” shows.
In a statement obtained by Variety, they said, “We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows,” before adding, “We don’t like doing it — but we know you’ll understand.”
The ‘Get Me to the Greek’ star is set to miss his Housefull Tuesday, September 19 show at the Theatre Royal Windsor, the Friday, September 22 show at the Plymouth Pavilions, and a show at The Halls Wolverhampton in the next week.
Despite the accusations and the postponement of shows, Brand is estimated to be around $20 million in September 2023, per Celebrity Net Worth.
How did Russell Brand get rich?
Before the allegations, the comedian-turned-social media influencer had a prolific career in the entertainment industry, with credits in Hollywood movies, shows, authorship of books, and YouTube videos.
Russell Brand's movies
Brand has appeared in a number of Hollywood movies including ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’, and its sequel ‘Get Him to the Greek’, ‘Rock of Ages’, ‘Bedtime Stories’, ‘Arthur’, and ‘Paradise’ among others.
He has also worked as the voiceover artist for animated movies including the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise, ‘Hop’, and ‘Trolls’.
TV shows
Throughout his career, he has hosted several TV shows including ‘RE: Brand’ in 2002, ‘Russell Brand's Got Issues’ in 2006, and ‘Brand X with Russell Brand' in 2012-2013.
Brand acted as the host of MTV Video Music Awards in 2008 and 2009 along with hosting the MTV Movie Awards in 2012.
He also has a podcast titled 'Stay Free Podcast with Russell Brand'.
Stand-up comedy shows
The comedian has amassed considerable wealth from his stand-up comedy shows after coming fourth in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 2000.
Following his performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000, 2004, and 2005, he conducted a tour all over England in 2006.
In 2007, he performed in front of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip and organized another nationwide tour titled ‘Russell Brand: Only Joking'.
He has done several other tours including ‘Russell Brand in New York City’, ‘Russell Brand: Live’, ‘Russell Brand: Doin' Life’, and ‘Russell Brand: Messiah Complex’.
Books authored by Russell Brand
He has also penned several fiction and non-fiction books including his autobiography ‘My Booky Wook’m which came out in 2007.
He struck a deal of £1.8 million ($2.2M) with Harper Collins and published ‘Articles of Faith’ in 2008 and ‘My Booky Wook 2: This Time It's Personal’ in 2010.
His other books are ‘Irons in the Fire’, ‘Russell Brand's Trickster Tales: The Pied Piper of Hamelin’, and ‘Revolution’, among others.
Who have severed ties with Russell Brand so far?
Following the allegations, several organizations have severed their ties with Brand and distanced themselves from the comedian.
Tavistock Wood, who used to be Brand’s talent agency, has disassociated themselves from him claiming they were “misled” by the comedian when one of the accusers contacted them about the alleged rape in 2020.
They told Daily Mail, “Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him,” before adding, “TW has terminated all professional ties to Brand.”
Pan Macmillan also suspended the publishing deal with Brand on Monday, September 18, per Page Six.
In a statement, a representative for Bluebird, which is an imprint of Pan Macmillan, said, “These are very serious allegations, and in the light of them, Bluebird has taken the decision to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand.”
Recently, YouTube has also issued a notice saying that Brand will not be able to make money by posting videos on the immensely popular social media site.
Per Local 10, YouTube has suspended monetization of Brand's accounts “following serious allegations against the creator.”
They further said, “This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand.”
Brand is the owner of three channels: Awakening With Russell (426,000 subscribers), Football Is Nice (20,000 subscribers), and Stay Free With Russell Brand (22,200 subscribers).