We have all seen how a celebrity’s or influencer’s career is ruined in seconds by a simple allegation or tweet, for that matter; James Charles is no exception. The Internet personality, beauty YouTuber, and make-up artist got himself into yet another “Sister Scandal.” Charles admitted to messaging 16-year-old boys- someone with so much influence over young children and youth-has admitted sending sexually explicit messages to underage boys.
According to BBC News, Charles released a video on his youtube channel entitled “Holding myself accountable.” Where he states that “I fully understand my actions and how they are wrong.” Charles also stated two incidents, one earlier in the year and one that happened more recently. Both of which were ones in which he became aware that the boys he was messaging were indeed minors and not at or above 18 years old. Charles publicly apologized to the boys and has furtherly stated that he will “take time away from posting on social media to “educate” himself about these issues.”
Furthermore, this is not the first time something like this has happened either.
According to BBC News, in 2019, Charles was accused of using “fame and money to manipulate someone’s sexuality.” Charles denied these accusations, and when he was asked why he was reckless in his past relationships, he said it is because he was “desperate.” Charles released a video in 2019 entitled “No more Lies,” in which he explained the situation and in which Charles made a promise to be more careful in the future. However, as BBC News states, “…as time progressed, he says in his most recent video, he began “ignoring red flags again.” Charles ended his video vowing to be more cautious in the future and stop treating his social media accounts as dating apps.”
As always- and as they should, Youtube takes accusations and admissions of sexual misconduct of their best creators seriously and without a second thought. Often, they will demonetize or even terminate channels of creators who have engaged in sexual misconduct. According to BBC News, Youtube ended up deleting singer Austin Jones’s channel after he had admitted to exchanging sexually explicit messages with underage girls. And David Dobrik, one of youtube’s best creators in 2020, recently got his channel demonetized following a rape allegation about a former associate, which he denies.
There is something to be learned from this, though, and it is to always be careful on the internet because we never know whom we are talking to and how old they are. There are serious legal repercussions that can come from actions such as this. These allegations are not a joking matter, they can ruin a life in a matter of seconds, and it is not something that people can get out of so quickly. So, if you decide to become a famous influencer like James Charles, then keep everything professional between you and your fans, and make sure to do your research before you decide to message someone you do not know.