James Charles: YouTube indefinitely demonetises influencer's channel
20 April 2021, 09:54
YouTube has indefinitely demonetised the channel of beauty influencer James Charles after he admitted to sending sexually explicit messages to two 16-year-old boys.
The 21-year-old uploaded a video earlier this month called 'holding myself accountable', in which he said the two fans had approached him on social media, and when he added them on Snapchat he "asked how old they were right away".
He added he "believed them" when they told him they were 18.
Mr Charle's apology video has been viewed more than 8.5 million times.
The video platform has now removed his ability to make money from his channel through advertising.
In a statement to Insider, YouTube said it had initiated its "creator responsibility policy", and has not said when it might be removed.
YouTube's policy states: "If we see that a creator's on- and/or off-platform behaviour harms our users, community, employees or ecosystem, we may take action to protect the community."
The news comes after the blogger's primary beauty sponsor, Morphe, announced the company and Mr Charles had "agreed to end our business relationship".
Following the release of his apology video, Mr Charles said more people had come forward with further allegations, which were false.
He tweeted: "Since posting that video, many other people have come forward with a series of misleading stories and false allegations which have been reported on by many people, creators and news outlets," he said via Twitter.
"My legal team has begun taking action against those that have spread misinformation and/or created completely fake stories, as this has gone too far."
