The YouTube video platform decided on Tuesday to temporarily suspend the monetization and promotion channels of the “influencer” channel James Charles, with 25.5 million followers, for accusations of digital harassment of two minors, People magazine reported.
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 main influencers, both on and off the platform.
This policy includes measures to prevent that person from generating money from the content they post on YouTube and from taking advantage of sponsorship and advertising opportunities.
Charles was accused by two 16-year-old boys of behaving inappropriately with them on Snapchat.
Charles, 21, apologized in a video on April 1 for his communications and “flirtations” with the two children and said they both told him at first they were 18.
“I relied on the information they gave me instead of looking for it,” said Charles, who is one of the most influential youtubers in the profitable makeup and beauty segment.
The accusations brought against Charles led the Morphe cosmetics company to announce on Friday that it is “reducing” its association agreement with the “youtuber” and regarding the product line that bears his name.
The video apologizing to Charles, one of YouTube’s “mega-influencers,” has been viewed more than 8 million times and has prompted new allegations of inappropriate attitudes toward minors.
“Since I posted that video, many other people have come out with a series of manipulated stories and false accusations,” Charles said on Twitter last Friday.
YouTube has taken action in recent years against its “influencers” accused of harassment or sexual abuse.
Last month, he demonetized David Dobrik (with 19 million followers) over rape allegations and in 2019 suspended the account of singer Austin Jones, who admitted to inappropriate communication with minors.