Meta has disabled Russell Brand’s Instagram and Facebook accounts following his sentencing to ten and a half years in prison for rape and sexual assault, while his account on X remains active.

The 51-year-old former entertainer was sentenced earlier this week after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The offences involved four women and took place between 2004 and 2009.

Brand is currently in prison and is expected to serve seven years behind bars before being released on licence.

A post appeared on his X account on Thursday evening criticising Meta’s action. It included what appeared to be screenshots showing that his Instagram account had been disabled.

“There was never a Russell Brand, according to @meta,” the message read. It added: “Thank God for @elonmusk,” referring to X’s owner, Elon Musk, before concluding: “Stay tuned”.

The disabling of the two Meta accounts restricts Brand’s presence on those platforms, but does not remove his remaining social media outlet: messages continue to appear on his active X account.