James Charles’ YouTube account has been demonetised after he admitted sending lewd messages to minors.
Charles had told his followers this month that he was “immediately embarrassed and blocked” two 16-year-olds who had allegedly told him they were 18 before he sent them explicit messages.
The YouTube influencer, who has been temporarily removed from the platform’s Partnership Programme for violating their offline behaviour policies, said he owed a “massive apology to anybody that I’ve hurt or anybody that I’ve made uncomfortable with my actions.”
“And I also want to say I’m sorry to my friends, family and fans that have to watch another one of these videos because you shouldn’t have to and this is really, really embarrassing.
“My hope has always been to be in a relationship with somebody around my age or older, that I can relate to and that can make me laugh and unfortunately I have not been able to find that person yet.
“But the idea of actually being in a relationship became so important to me that I was willing to trust too quickly, miss out on red flags and most importantly not take the precautionary measures that really anybody, but especially somebody with a public platform, should be taking before talking to anybody and there’s no excuse for that.”
The 21-year-old, who has over 25 million YouTube subscribers, also saw his contract with cosmetic company “Morphe” terminated following the admission.
Charles, who says he is not “full gay” because he is attracted to transgender men, had previously been accused by one model of forcing him into sexual situations, a charge denied by the YouTube star.
In February a 16-year-old boy came forward to claim Charles had pressured him into exchanging sexual photos on Snapchat, prompting another three males to claim they had experienced unwanted sexual advances from the influencer as well.
Last month another male aged 15 posted screenshots of photos and messages exchanged between the pair, alleging that Charles knew his age.
James Charles however said the boy had lied about his age.