Filmed at London’s Hackney Empire, the hour-long special features Brand discussing fatherhood, including a graphic routine about watching his daughter’s birth. Netflix classifies it as TV-MA. A source at the company told The Telegraph that keeping it available reflects a desire to let subscribers choose what they watch. LBC and NME reported that the special had been hidden from search results.
The decision has prompted criticism and comparisons with Netflix’s treatment of Kevin Spacey. After allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey surfaced in 2017, Netflix continued production on the final season of House of Cards without him and shelved his film Gore, which was in post-production. Both projects were awaiting release; Brand’s special had been in Netflix’s catalog for nearly eight years before his sentence. Some readers have questioned whether he receives residuals, while others have argued subscribers should decide what to watch.
Brand was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, November 9, after a jury convicted him of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving four women, for offenses between 2004 and 2009. He denied the charges and was acquitted of two other rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. Justice Bennathan called him “a sexual predator” and said he had used his fame to prey on fans. The Metropolitan Police said Brand will remain on the sex offenders’ register for life.
The BBC has also edited a reference to Brand from the iPlayer version of the 2008 Gavin & Stacey Christmas special. In the original scene, Nessa uses his memoir My Booky Wook to help Baby Neil fall asleep and hints that she and Stacey once spent a night with him. The BBC removed some programmes featuring Brand from iPlayer and BBC Sounds in 2023, when allegations against him became public. YouTube also suspended his ability to earn advertising revenue that year.
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