'SAY, JAMES, I HEAR YOU TEXT EM YOUNG*.'
Thatwas the message plastered across a billboard near the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Colby Avenue on the morning of 15 February, next to a photograph of James Charles and a mock Google search bar reading 'James Charles Allegations'. Below it, a reference to a BBC headline from April 2021: 'James Charles: YouTube star admits messaging 16-year-old boys.'
It went up on a Saturday. By the time most people saw it, it existed only as TikTok clips and screenshots — which, given how these things tend to go, probably reached more eyeballs than the billboard ever would have.
Ethan Klein did. Or rather, his company did: Ted Entertainment Inc, the production outfit behind the H3 Podcast. Klein told followers in an Instagram video that the billboard cost $10,000 and that the final design was chosen from 523 fan submissions. He seemed quite pleased with it.
'This is the only good idea I've had to try to do something,' Klein said. 'With somebody with resources and reach, I feel like it's the least I can do to try to remind the people of Los Angeles and the world that this is what James Charles gets up to.'
He added: 'It's time we start calling him out, so I hope you'll enjoy it — except you, James.'
Then the billboard came down. Klein told his audience the advertising company informed him they 'can't do anything about it.' He did not say — or perhaps did not know — who requested the removal. No legal filing has surfaced. No takedown notice has been confirmed. Klein promised to 'get to the bottom' of the disappearance, framing it as evidence that criticism of powerful creators gets suppressed.
Whether that's true, or whether an advertising company simply got nervous about a sign accusing someone of a sex offence without a conviction, is anyone's guess.
The allegations are five years old. Some parts are confirmed by Charles's own words. Others are disputed. At least one accuser later admitted fabricating evidence entirely. Keeping those threads separate takes more care than most people on either side seem willing to give it, so here's what we actually know.
In February 2021, a 16-year-old called Isaiyah posted a TikTok alleging that Charles — then 21 — had groomed him by sending explicit photographs and pressuring him into sexting despite knowing his age. Charles denied the grooming claim, insistingthatthe teenager had told him he was 18. A second minor named Robert came forward with similar accusations. More followed.The Independentreported that at least 15 individuals eventually accused Charles of misconduct, though the severity and credibility of those claims varied enormously.
Source: International Business Times UK
