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With pressure mounting and victims coming forward one by one, James Charles has come clean with an apology video. The beauty guru took to YouTube to address the grooming allegations leveled against him over the past few months.
In a 14-minute-long video, James Charles admitted to sending sexually explicit messages to two minor boys. He said:
"I fully understand my actions and how they are wrong. These conversations should have never happened."
Despite him coming clean and addressing the elephant in the room, netizens have begun calling him a "pedophile." While both sides of the story are considered, the evidence has been piling up against James Charles.
Allegations against the 21-year-old first emerged on social media in February, when a 16-year-old accused him of grooming. However, the internet star quickly clapped back and put out a written statement on Twitter.
While many people alleged that James Charles was involved with a minor, a large portion of the community stated that the boy had lied about this age for clout.
However, following the incident, yet another teenager, 15, came forward and accused James Charles of messaging him.
The minor uploaded a clip in which he shared screenshots of his conversation with the YouTuber on Snapchat.
Despite the entire fiasco dying down, netizens began digging up skeletons in James Charles' closet in the form of old footage, which kept fanning the flames.
Old clips from James Charles' interview on Impaulsive add fuel to the fire
During a 2019 interview on Jake Paul's Impaulsive podcast, James Charles claimed that he was into "young people."
While this may have been satire since the podcast is casual, and he may have wanted to be sarcastic, it's quite evident that the footage didn't age well.
In the clips, he can be heard saying:
"So, the thing is for me, I'm 21, but I have the mentality of a 40-year-old. So, for me, I'm much more mentally and emotionally mature than a lot of people my age. I'm not physically attracted to older guys. Like, I would date the absolute youngest like 18-19 that looks a little bit older."
Despite his statement not mentioning minors directly, the damage was done as fans began using it as further evidence of his character and calling out his apology as a bluff.
James Charles' apology video met with severe backlash
After beating about the bush, denying allegations, and shifting the blame, James Charles finally admitted to his faults in an apology video.
In the clip, the New York native came clean about having messaged these young boys and admitted that he could have run a background check on their age but didn't.
However, one word he used to describe himself in the video has since left netizens outraged:
"In all areas of my life, my friends, my business, I like to think of myself as pretty put together and on top of things, and I couldn't understand why relationships were the one outlier, and I finally came to a conclusion. I am desperate."
Following the apology video in which the word "desperate" was used, netizens took to Twitter to share their outrage and disbelief:
With many labeling him as a pedophile and wanting him to get canceled, it's unclear how things will progress. But one thing is for sure: the bulk of the internet is done with James Charles.
