James Charles is no stranger to finding himself in the middle of scandals. The YouTuber, who has over 25.6 million subscribers, recently came out with a video where he admits to sexting boys who now say they are minors out of an act of “being desperate.”
In the YouTube video posted on April 1, titled “holding myself accountable,” Charles addressed the allegations and stated that he recognized that the conversations should have never happened.
“I need to take accountability for my actions and most importantly apologize to the people who were hurt by them.”
Charles also stated in the video that he believed the boys were of age and blocked them on Snapchat when he found out their real ages.
“A power imbalance can happen even when it’s not intentional,” Charles says. “What I wasn’t getting before is that the excitement that comes with talking to a celebrity is literally enough to make somebody do or say something that they normally wouldn’t. Even if that celebrity isn’t intentionally weaponizing their fame, money, or power. And that’s the concept that I just wasn’t getting, but I now do.”
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Charles has found himself in hot water. In 2019, Charles was accused of taking advantage of straight men who were questioning their sexuality. Charles publicly responded to the allegations with his own upload that included detailed receipts, which seemingly proved the allegations to be false.
However, this time Charles says, “I realized the receipts and screenshots and specific details of the interaction really don’t matter because I f**ked up.”
In the April 1 video, Charles shifts away from his former tactic of denying any wrongdoing, and instead states that he is “spending time researching these topics” and self- reflecting.
Concluding the April 1 apology video, Charles promised fans that he would change.
“This whole situation has been embarrassing and I’m ashamed but like I said, I’m now educated and fully understand what went on,” he says. “I’m going to be taking some time away to reflect and further educate myself on these topics.”
Many celebrities and influencers have also spoken out about the scandal. In particular, Trisha Paytas (who has faced plenty of controversy herself), responded to Charles’ YouTube video on TikTok by saying that this is not the first time Charles has apologized and promised his fans to “do better.”
James Charles is currently taking a break from social media, but it will be interesting to see when and how he will make his return.
Tweet us at @VALLEYmag and let us know what you thought of his apology video!
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