The YouTube video platform decided on Tuesday to temporarily suspend the monetization and promotion of the channel of the “influencer” James Charles, with 25.5 million followers, for allegations of digital harassment of two minors, the magazine reported People.
YouTube has confirmed that it has decided to temporarily expel Charles, known for his makeup and beauty videos, from its YouTube Partner Program for violating one of its principles on the behavior of its top “influencers” both on and off the platform.
This policy includes measures to prevent this person from monetizing the content they post on YouTube and from benefiting from sponsorship and advertising opportunities.
Charles has been accused by two 16-year-old boys of having misbehaved with them on Snapchat.
Charles, 21, apologized in a video on April 1 for his communications and “flirting” with the two minors and said they both told him at first that they were 18 years old.
“I relied on the information they gave me instead of looking for it for myself,” acknowledged Charles, who is one of the most influential “YouTubers” in the cost-effective makeup and beauty segment.
The allegations against Charles led the cosmetics company Morphe to announce on Friday that it was “reducing” its partnership agreement with the “youtuber” and regarding the product line that bears its name.
The apology video of Charles, one of Youtube’s “mega-influencers,” has been viewed more than 8 million times and prompted new allegations of inappropriate attitude toward minors.
“Since posting this video, many other people have come out with a series of manipulated stories and false allegations,” Charles said last Friday on Twitter.
YouTube has taken action in recent years against its top “influencers” accused of sexual harassment or abuse.
Last month, he demonetized David Dobrik (with 19 million followers) on rape charges and in 2019 suspended the account of singer Austin Jones, who admitted inappropriate communications with minors.