Burger King Called 'Woke' After Russell Brand Advert Move

Burger King has come under fire after it pulled advertisements from Rumble, which hosts the podcasts of British comedian Russell Brand who has been accused of rape and sexual assault.

The News Movement said the fast-food company, along with Asos and HelloFresh, was among several businesses to pull their advertisements from the video-streaming platform. The fast-food chain has not yet disclosed the exact reasons behind the move, although some on social media have connected it with the accusations leveled at Brand.

Newsweek has contacted Burger King and Brand for comment via email.

The decision follows a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and U.K. broadcaster Channel 4's Dispatches program reported claims that Brand committed rape and sexual abuse between 2006 and 2013.

Brand, who has strongly denied the allegations, described them as "distressing" in a video shared to Rumble, YouTube, and X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, September 22.

The Times estimated Brand earns around $33,045 a month from his Rumble channel and $1.2 million a year from YouTube. The site banned monetization on his channel this week.

Burger King's decision to pull its advertisements from Rumble, which describes itself as being "immune to cancel culture," sparked fury from many who took to X to vent their fury.

Jeremy Dale Hambly, who hosts the YouTube channel TheQuartering, said: "Burger King hates free speech. It will be very easy to never eat there again. @BurgerKing goodbye."

Matthew Nichol, a self-described "ultra MAGA patriot" with some 24,100 X followers, responded to the report, adding: "F*** you Burger King. I will never eat your garbage again. Boycott Burger King. Woke corporations suck. Do you agree?"

Podcast host Kyle Becker added: "Stop supporting un-American companies like Burger King, Hello Fresh, Bud Light, Target, Kohls, Delta, American Airlines, Nike, Starbucks, Amazon, Disney. They hate you. They hate your rights. They hate America. Take your business elsewhere."

Following reports of the allegations it emerged a U.K. parliamentary committee questioned Rumble over Brand's income from the platform.

After receiving a letter from the committee, Rumble founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski said in a statement: "While Rumble obviously deplores sexual assault, rape, and all serious crimes, and believes that both alleged victims and the accused are entitled to a full and serious investigation, it is vital to note that the recent allegations against Russell Brand have nothing to do with content on Rumble's platform."

Among the allegations is that Brand started a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl when he was in his early 30s and referred to her as "the child" during their time together.

The alleged victim has claimed he was emotionally abusive and controlling and described an incident where she claimed she had been forced into a sexual act and was asked to sit in a bath for hours until he came home and the water had turned cold.

Brand has argued that he has always been transparent about his previous relationships being consensual and added the "mainstream media outlets are making a coordinated attack" against him.

"These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous," he said.