- James Charles has been demonetized, YouTube confirmed.
- YouTube told Insider that Charles has been "temporarily removed" from the Partner Program.
- The move follows more than 15 sexual misconduct accusations from men and boys.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
YouTube has temporarily removed one of its most popular creators from its Partner Program, restricting makeup YouTuber James Charles' ability to make money from the platform. In a statement to Insider, YouTube said it has applied its "creator responsibility policy" to Charles' channel with more than 25.5 million subscribers. The platform did not say how long Charles will be demonetized for.
The creator responsibility policy states that "If we see that a creator's on- and/or off-platform behavior harms our users, community, employees or ecosystem, we may take action to protect the community." It goes on to say that YouTube may take action against creators who intend to cause "malicious harm to others" or who cause "real world harm" via abuse or violence, cruelty, or participating in fraudulent or deceptive behavior.
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YouTube's action against Charles follows a major sexting scandal he's involved in. More than 15 men and boys have accused Charles of sexual misconduct since 2019, ranging from anonymous underage sexting accusations on TikTok to men who say Charles attempted to manipulate them into romantic and sexual reciprocation.
In an April 1 video on his YouTube channel called "holding myself accountable," Charles addressed two sexting accusations he said were made by 16-year-olds, saying that the interactions with the boys "should have never happened." He also claimed that the accusers lied about their ages.
One 16-year-old who accused Charles of sending him nudes photos and soliciting nude photos from him told Insider that Charles "lied" in his statement. The same 16-year-old provided Insider with screenshots that showed his age could be seen on Instagram his Instagram profile, where Charles and him exchanged direct messages.
Most recently, following more than a dozen allegations made on TikTok, Charles' primary beauty sponsor Morphe announced it would cut ties with him. The cosmetics company previously faced a boycott from angry consumers.
In a statement responding to Morphe, Charles wrote "Since posting that video, many other people have come forward with a series of misleading stories and false allegations which have been reported on by many people, creators, and news outlets."
-James Charles (@jamescharles) April 17, 2021
YouTube's creator responsibility policy has previously been applied to Shane Dawson in 2020 and David Dobrik in 2021 following critical mainstream media attention in both cases. Dawson was criticized by Jada Pinkett Smith and Jaden Smith after a video resurfaced of him pretending to masturbate to a poster of then-11-year-old Willow Smith. Dobrik was demonetized for one month following Insider's investigation into rape allegations against a former member of his Vlog Squad group.