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'James Charles back at flirting': YouTuber accused again of sexting, 'making straight men uncomfortable'

A TV personality tweeted, 'David also alleges that James sent him 2 illicit photos after David declined to send a selfie to James'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: YouTuber James Charles' journey to fame was as dramatic as the controversies that now surround him. A set of senior yearbook photos, posted on Twitter in 2016, showing a 17-year-old New York high school student became viral, particularly for the way his highlight "was poppin." The student, Charles, had decided to retake the pictures himself because he was unsatisfied that the lighting had ruined his makeup efforts. 

"So I retook my senior photos & brought my ring light with me so my highlight would be poppin. I love being extra," Charles tweeted along with two pictures of himself on September 6, 2016. His tweet garnered over 77,000 likes and 28,000 retweets, starting off his career as a makeup artist and vlogger on YouTube. However, the next few years would see Charles, who enjoys a subscriber base of over 23.8 million and is the first-ever male Cover Girl model, embroiled in controversies, including sexual misconduct allegations, with brands gradually beginning to distance themselves from the YouTube star. 

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James Charles' racist tweet and the beginning of controversy

Months after his high school pictures brought him to fame, on February 16, 2017, a tweet by the YouTube star did not go down well with netizens. "'I can’t believe we’re going to Africa today omg what if we get Ebola?' 'James we’re fine we could’ve gotten it at chipotle last year,'" Charles had tweeted with an upside-down smiley face emoji. While Charles said at the time that the now-deleted tweet was intended for a friend who confused Ebola with E coli, the Internet did not find it amusing. 

Commenting on what was seen as a distasteful remark, a Twitter user wrote, "His tweet implied that all of Africa is affected and perpetuates the stereotype that Africa is full of diseases." "The ignorance is sickening," wrote another user. To make matters worse for the social media celebrity, people were not particularly impressed by the apology the then 17-year-old posted a day later.

Some of them claimed that Charles "literally told people to stop being so offended." In his apology, Charles wrote, "I am extremely sorry. Regardless of my intentions, words have consequences. I take full responsibility and will learn and do better." A few hours later, on the same day, Charles posted another tweet with an apology note. "I am extremely sorry for my tweet and I feel like s**t for saying it...I am aware that my tweet was extremely offensive and degrading...It was never my intent to offend anyone and I am sorry," he wrote.

However, that wasn't the only controversy that Charles found himself in 2017. His tweet, calling the movie 'It' awful did not go down well with fans. To make matters worse, the makeup artist stuck to his opinion despite facing immense backlash online, and in another tweet on September 8, 2017, wrote, "why am I being attacked for saying I didn't like a movie lmfao y'all need to find something better to do with your lives."

From Shawn Mendes to Ariana Grande, Charles' tiff with celebrities

Before being embroiled in allegations of grooming and sexual misconduct toward underage boys, Charles got into some controversy for his comments and views on a host of celebrities, including Canadian singer-songwriter, Shawn Mendes. In October 2018, Mendes had started an Instagram live, where he was showing off his juggling skills.

Taking to the comments section, Charles wrote, “Can you juggle me like that?” While Mendes himself, seemingly did not take much offence and later took to Twitter writing, "Your comments actually make me laugh, and I love them" while referring to Charles. The message came after several fans trolled Charles for his remarks on the singer's feed. At the time, in an apologetic tone, Charles had tweeted, "Im upset, embarrassed, and sorry if he felt sexually harassed."

Before this controvery had happened, Charles had already invited the ire of several music fans by naming Ariana Grande as the "rudest" celebrity he had ever met. In a video, he posted with fellow YouTubers Shane Dawson and Ryland Adams, Charles said, "I guess I just really had a crappy experience with her" and claims that the singer unfollowed him "literally three hours" after she had followed and texted him. Among other celebrities, he had a spat with Makeup Geek founder Marlena Stella, who he accused of stealing a documentary idea from him. Charles also claimed that Stella had a bias toward influencers.    

Allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming

While Charles was navigating between all of these controversies, including several others that followed, such as his video titled 'THE TRUTH… My Crush Does My Makeup', which many fans found offensive toward trans people. In 2019, Instagram model Gage Gomez accused the YouTuber of having pressured him into sexual situations, despite him telling Charles that he wasn't attracted to men. As per a report by Dexerto, Gomez claimed that he had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in experimenting with his sexuality, which had allegedly upset Charles and his friends. 

Matters got worse for Charles after, on January 2021, he faced backlash for defending TikTok stars Ondreaz Lopez and Xavier Lopez, who were facing numerous allegations of grooming underage boys at the time. While Charles did tweet in solidarity with the victims, netizens claimed that he had defended the Lopez brothers in 2020. A month after this, on February 2021, Charles got himself embroiled in a grooming scandal. 

The YouTuber was accused by a 16-year-old boy of pressurizing him into exchanging sexual photos via the Snapchat app. In a tweet, Charles labeled the allegation as being completely false, while admitting that he did start "flirting back" after the alleged victim approached him. He claimed that he was unaware of the boy being underage. However, within days of this tweet, three more males accused Charles of unwanted sexual advances. Among them, a 17-year-old boy shared screenshots alleging that Charles had continued to flirt with him via Instagram despite being aware of his age.

In March 2021, Charles was allegedly in touch with a 15-year-old boy with whom he shared messages and pictures. The boy shared screenshots from alleged conversations and photos he had exchanged with the YouTuber on TikTok. Charles claimed that the boy had lied about his age and went on to block him. 

In April 2021, a Tana Mongeau, a longtime friend of Charles, backtracked from her previous comment defending the YouTuber in the Gage Gomez controversy. "I was defending someone that was my friend at the time and believed them. sad to see. I later reconciled with Gage and discussed it, apologized, heard his side of the story, and now I call him one of my closest friends," Mongeau wrote on Twitter.

The latest controversy surrounding Charles came early this year, after TV Personality Tommy Gabriel wrote a Twitter thread, claiming, "James Charles is back at flirting and making straight men uncomfortable." In his tweet, Gabriel screenshots of an alleged conversation between Charles and a man named David. As part of the chats seen in  the tweet, the YouTuber offered David a "lucrative role" as his boyfriend, stating that he would receive several perks if he took the offer, including living for free in a $10 million house in Los Angeles, fun trips and a cute boyfriend. Continuing the thread, Gabriel wrote, "David also alleges that James sent him 2 illicit photos after David declined to send a selfie to James."  

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.