YouTube has limited the ability of popular makeup vlogger James Charles to make money from the online video platform, following allegations of underage sexting and grooming.
Charles, who is a beauty pageant with 25.5 million subscribers on YouTube, is accused of sexual misconduct by more than 15 men and boys, and some allege that sexual minors took place.
Although YouTube did not say how long Charles’ channel would be ‘disassembled’, they did say it was part of the creator’s responsibility policy.
In a statement to the Guardian, the company said: “We can confirm that we have applied our Creator Responsibility Policy and temporarily removed James Charles from the YouTube Affiliate Program.” The policy states: “If we see a creator’s behavior on and / or off the platform harming our users, community, employees or ecosystem, we can act to protect the community.”
It adds that YouTube can take action against creators who intend to ’cause malicious harm to others’ or who ’cause actual harm’ through abuse, violence, cruelty or deceptive or deceptive behavior, reports Insider.
Last week, beauty brand Morphe cut ties with Charles. In a statement posted to Twitter, the company wrote: “In light of recent allegations against James Charles, Morphe and James have agreed to terminate our business relationship and terminate sales of the Morphe X James Charles product offering.” They started their collaboration in 2018.
In his own statement, Charles said that the cessation of the partnership was mutually agreed. In addition, Variety has announced that Charles has been replaced by Zach Hsieh as host of YouTube’s competition program Instant Influencer. YouTube declined to comment on Variety’s claims.
Earlier this month, Charles posted a video in which he addresses the allegations and apologizes for his behavior. In the video, titled Holding Myself Accountable, he said of the minor allegations: “I was reckless … these conversations should never have taken place.”
He claims that two of the accused pretended to be adults. “I trust the information given to me, rather than the information I could and should have received myself.” He also talked about taking legal action against more who spread misinformation and created false stories.
Charles added that he used YouTube as a dating app and now understands the issues it can cause. “A power imbalance can occur if it is not intentional,” he said. ‘What I have not experienced before is that the excitement that brings me to speak to a celebrity is literally enough to make someone do or say something they would not normally do. Even if the celebrity does not intentionally boast their fame, money or power. And that’s the concept I just did not get, but now it does. ”
The Guardian reached out to Charles for further comment.