Where there’s smoke, there’s fire—and something is clearly burning where social media influencer James Charles resides. After numerous accusations of inappropriate sexual contact with underage boys over the years, the makeup artist YouTuber has found himself at the center of yet another wave of similar controversy, again after previously denying such behavior.
Last week, after several underage TikTokers had posted incriminating private messages sent by Charles to them, he broke his silence to his over 25 million YouTube subscribers to state how he “fully understand my actions and how they were wrong” on sending nudes and being “engaged in a flirty conversation” with minors.
“I do understand with these videos coming to, it’s really starting to—not even starting to—it’s really looking, period, like I’m actively searching for younger people to be in a relationship with,” Charles says in a YouTube video he posted on April 1 titled “holding myself accountable.” “I just want to say firsthand that is absolutely not the case.”
But Charles, CoverGirl’s first male spokesperson, seems more defensive than accountable in yet another infamous “YouTube Apology” video—typically involving a fake-deep confessional from a major influencer set behind a plain background with perfect lighting (picture those god-awful “I’m sorry” videos from the likes of famous MUAs Jeffree Star and Tati Westbrook). Charles, who turns 22 next month, tried to tell his young followers how this time around he’s been “researching these topics” and self-reflecting more—compared to the last time he had to do a similar confessional video in 2019 called “No More Lies” regarding similar accusations. Once again, Charles claims that he was not informed of the age of his accusers upfront and made it a point to disengage the moment he found out.
To add insult to injury, Charles continues to play the victim, suggesting that he was “willing to trust too quickly, miss out on red flags and most importantly take the precautionary measures that really anybody, but especially somebody with a public platform, should be taking before talking to anybody.”
And that’s when I finally threw my hands up and called bullshit.
In the #MeToo era, after several men have been called out for sexual harassment and have faced severe consequences for their actions, why is it that Charles, who boasts an online audience in the tens of millions, has been pretty much untouched by these troublesome allegations?
Answer: Because he’s a white gay man who’s being accused by male victims.
What’s been upsetting during this public reckoning of sexual misconduct allegations from those in power is how much the LGBTQ community has been denied the same level of concern and protection as their heteronormative counterparts.
With the exception of actor Kevin Spacey, who conveniently decided to come out of the closet after being accused of sexually targeting an underage Anthony Rapp, there hasn’t been much coverage on any other LGBTQ stars who’ve been accused. Which is why it’s very telling that Charles, who has faced growing accusations as recently as last month, continues to remain largely unscathed by the public.
After a 16-year old TikToker named Isaiyah (@redzai on TikTok) alleged that Charles sent him unsolicited nudes on Snapchat and pressured him into sexting in February, he went on to win the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for “Favorite Male Social Star” in March. This was right after another underage TikToker named Uzzy (@lifeofuzzy) also made similar claims that Charles pressured him for nude photos after the two started messaging. While there were many online who criticized Charles, none of it compares to any of the massive scrutiny and press his fellow cishet YouTubers, such as David Dobrik, have gotten for their connection to sexual misconduct drama.
Would we be having this conversation if these were underage girls? I doubt it.
As a queer journalist who’s previously covered sexual harassment and rape culture in the LGBTQ community, the reaction is often dismissive, gaslighty, or treated as a joke. For example, when I broke the story in 2018 of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Mimi Imfurst admitting to sexually harassing upcoming local performers in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood, Imfurst (whose real name is Braden Chapman) continued to be booked and unbothered. His accusers, however, faced ongoing blacklisting and social isolation in the drag scene for coming forward.
Unfortunately, because most of society is unfairly framed to see victims of sexual abuse as their daughters, sons, sisters, and other family members, trying to get them to imagine such members as being LGBTQ and targeted by someone of the same gender feels like a much harder task. Which is why it feels as though nobody seems to care when Charles, who has been accused of this behavior for over two years now, faces more and more allegations.
Recent news that the beauty vlogger won’t be hosting another season of the hit YouTube reality competition show Instant Influencer sounds promising—but not when the streaming company thanked him and only claimed they did so to “take a new creative direction.”
Meanwhile, Charles continues to hold on to his many lucrative endorsements, such as a collaboration with Chipotle and a makeup line with Morphe Cosmetics. This is unacceptable. We should hold him just as accountable for his disturbing behavior as any other cishet creep.
