YouTube beauty vlogger James Charles has become so popular that he’s causing city-wide traffic meltdowns and uninvited fans are showing up at his house and hiding behind garbage cans.
Now, there are rumors that the 19-year-old Charles has a sex tape that’s been leaked online. The problem with this alleged tape? Charles said he hasn’t ever had sex.
Charles squashed the rumors last week when he tweeted, “apparently my sex tape is going around!!??? this is exciting news to me considering i’m still very much a virgin lol.”
apparently my sex tape is going around!!??? this is exciting news to me considering i'm still very much a virgin lol
— James Charles (@jamescharles) January 29, 2019
That tweet drew more than 20,000 retweets and nearly 350,000 likes. But it wasn’t enough to completely shut down the rumors. On Tuesday, Charles again commented on the gossip that so far refuses to die. He continued his humorous commentary, writing, “if my sex tape ever DID leak you all would know because i’d be posting it everywhere fully monetized with 34 mid-roll ads.”
Ah, spoken like a true YouTuber.
if my sex tape ever DID leak you all would know because i'd be posting it everywhere fully monetized with 34 mid-roll ads
— James Charles (@jamescharles) February 6, 2019
Charles, who just surpassed 14 million subscribers, has had quite a run of success. At age 17, he was given a contract with Cover Girl, as the first male ambassador to the brand. His Halloween makeup tutorial featuring Kylie Jenner has drawn nearly 26 million views, and at a recent appearance at a Morphe makeup store in Birmingham, England, traffic got so snarled that “the city gridlocked for hours” and drivers reportedly abandoned their cars overnight.
I can’t believe this is my life pic.twitter.com/TOvGjNsk5d
— James Charles (@jamescharles) January 26, 2019
But Charles has also experienced the downside of his fame. Recently, he demanded fans stop visiting him at his Los Angeles home, saying it made him feel unsafe.
“Please stop showing up at my house,” Charles wrote on Twitter. “I will not hug you, I will not take a photo with you, and I absolutely will not sign your palette. It is extremely disrespectful & makes me feel very unsafe in my own home. Respect people’s privacy, it’s really not that hard.”
In that case, his home address had been leaked online. Which is much worse than leaking a fake sex tape. It’s easier to maintain a sense of humor about mistaken identity.
H/T We the Unicorns