Technology
YouTube bans ads on ALL James Charles videos over ‘explicit texts with minors’
YOUTUBE has demonetised the channel of James Charles over explicit texts sent by the beauty influencer to underage boys.
The video platform confirmed to the BBC on Tuesday that the 21-year-old had been temporarily removed from its Partnership Programme.
YouTube star James Charles has been removed from YouTube’s Partnership Programme[/caption]
It means that Charles, who has more than 25million YouTube subscribers, has lost the ability to earn advertising income from his videos.
YouTube did not reveal how long the suspension would stand for.
Charles admitted earlier this month that he had exchanged sexual messages with two 16-year-old boys.
The American internet star apologised to his YouTube subscribers, claiming that the unnamed recipients initially said they were 18.
Charles admitted earlier this month that he had exchanged sexual messages with two 16-year-old boys[/caption]
Before his apology, accusations that Charles had groomed young fans had been shared widely on social media.
A YouTube spokesperson said that the vlogger had been demonetised in line with its creator responsibility policy.
The 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.”
It’s the second of Charles’ lucrative brand partnerships on the rocks as a result of his texts.
On Friday, Charles and cosmetics company Morphe announced that they had “agreed to wind down” their partnership.
The beauty vlogger has 25million YouTube subscribers[/caption]
In a video posted to his YouTube channel on April 1, Charles addressed mounting accusations of “grooming” and messaging minors.
The 21-year-old apologised specifically to two underage accusers, one of whom he began messaging “last year” and another “more recently”.
Since then, four more accusers have come forward.
“I trusted the information that was given to me rather than the information I could have and should have gotten myself,” Charles said.
“In both of these situations, doing research into these people’s public social-media profiles would’ve revealed their true ages, and therefore these conversations would have never happened in the first place.
YouTube did not reveal how long the suspension would stand for[/caption]
“But I didn’t do the research, and that is what is so embarrassing.”
He added: “To the guys involved in the situation, I want to say I’m sorry.
“I’m sorry that I added you, I’m sorry that I flirted with you, and I’m really sorry that I made you uncomfortable.”
Two years ago, Charles posted the 41-minute video “No More Lies”, in which he addressed claims that he harassed straight men.
James was accused of sending unsolicited messages to dozens of men, allegedly sending abuse to some of those who rebuffed his advances.
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