James Charles fans 'send death threats' to producer over legal action

13 May 2021, 16:10

James Charles says he's being blackmailed in new video statement

By Emma Clarke

The beauty YouTuber removed himself from social media amidst allegations, before breaking his silence on Monday.

A former employee of James Charles claims she has received death threats from the vlogger's fans over the legal action she's taking against him.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Kelly Rocklein stated that people had "asked her to kill herself" in response to the legal action she's taking against Charles.

"So many people sending me death threats, asking me to kill myself and making fun of my appearance," she wrote.

"It’s almost like someone incited this violent mob of stans on me to in a desperate move to vilify me and remove any of the blame from themselves."

READ MORE: James Charles has been temporarily demonetised by YouTube

In a later post, Rocklein added: "As if struggling with anxiety, depression end body dysmorphia wasn’t enough already [sic]."

According to Rocklein, Charles wrongfully terminated her employment after fainting and hitting her head while at a nail salon with him.

It's also been reported that that in addition to making Rocklein work 12-18 hour days, Charles called her a "bitch" and used the N-word in front of her.

It comes after the beauty YouTuber admitted he sent two 16-year-old boys sexually explicit images in an apology video posted in April.

In response to the sexual misconduct allegations, YouTube temporarily demonetised Charles' account, which has over 25million subscribers, and Morphe cut ties with Charles.

After removing himself from social media, Charles then broke his silence on Monday (May 10), when he posted a statement around the legal action taken by Rocklein.

In the statement, Charles said that the claims were "fake" and that people were coming forward with "a series of misleading stories and false allegations."

He's also said Rocklein's allegations are "ridiculous absurd, untrue, defamatory... the craziest claims you could imagine".

Speaking to BBC News, Rocklein's lawyer said Charles' legal team had delayed proceedings by two years.

"After Kelly was fired, we sent a letter trying to resolve this amicably," he said. "They said no."

Charles has also refused to pay a settlement. "My only option is to pursue this to the fullest extent of the law," he says.

Following the failed attempt at abritration, the case can now be made public and there is currently no court date in place.