James Charles denied claims he groomed an underage boy online after allegations surfaced via Tik Tok on Friday, February 26.
In the since-deleted video, a social media user claiming to be a 16-year-old boy, alleged that the beauty YouTuber, 21, sent him sexually explicit messages and photos via Snapchat. Charles denied those claims in a statement released via Twitter hours later.
“There’s a video going around about me on TikTok and Twitter of a guy calling me a groomer and I want to address it right away,” he began. “The accusation that I have groomed this person is completely false. Last week, I came across someone on my Instagram explore page, saw he followed me, and added him on snapchat. The next morning, I woke up to several snaps from this person being excited I added him back, saying he loved me, and also lewd photos of himself in the shower.”
Charles continued: “I asked how old he was right away and he told me he was 18 so I started flirting back. In the excitement of meeting someone I thought could be potentially great, I didn’t ask for a copy of his ID or passport. It’s now clear, based on the video he uploaded, he was taking photos of me with another device, and had an ulterior motive from the beginning. Later in the day, he said a few things that made me question the validity of his original age answer and when I asked him to confirm his age once again, he admitted he was 16.”
The social media personality maintained that he “told him [he] was really uncomfortable and apologized for flirting.” He added that the boy “insisted on continuing talking, saying it could be our little secret.” Charles said in his statement that he “wasn’t okay with this,” and told the boy as much. This upset him and the makeup mogul “unfriended him.”
He continued: “I’m not victim blaming him or victimizing myself either, simply sharing what happened, and what happened was not okay. After false allegations like this in the past, I would never knowingly engage with anyone underage and put my life on the line for a few snapchats. Because of situations like this, instead of taking someone’s word for it, I now will ask to see the ID or passport of every guy I have a conversation with.”
ET Online reported that the alleged victim said in a since-deleted Tik Tok that his conversations with Charles were “very sexual” and left him feeling uncomfortable. The boy addressed Charles via Twitter, refuting the claims he made in his statement.
“James we both know I blocked you, you never asked for my age. After I told you I was 16 you proceeded to ask me for nudes and said it didn’t matter. You called me hot and said ‘I wish the timeline could speed up so you can be 18,'” he alleged in a tweet.
