James Charles Apologizes for ‘Flirty’ Messages to Underage Fans in Emotional Video

James Charles is apologizing for his latest online scandal. Earlier this week, fans of the makeup artist brought him under fire for allegedly flirting with two underage boys on social media. In the latest apology video titled “Holding Myself Accountable,” Charles admits to interacting with both teenage boys on Snapchat. “First and foremost, I need to say sorry,” he started, per E! “I owe a massive apology to anybody I have hurt or anybody I made uncomfortable with my actions. I want to make it really, really clear that I fully understand my actions and how they are wrong. There are no excuses for them and I don’t plan on making any.”

“Within the past couple of weeks, two different people, both under the age of 18, have recently come forward saying that they had inappropriate messages from me on social media. One of them being from last year and one of them being more recent,” he continued.

Charles went on to say that both interactions took place on social media, where he claims they “engaged in flirty conversation.” He believed both times the teens were 18 years old, but once he realized they were actually 16, he says he immediately stopped communication by blocking them. “I realized the receipts and screenshots and specific details of the interaction really don’t matter because I f—ed up,” he shared in the 14-minute long clip. “I need to take accountability for my actions and, most importantly, apologize to the people who were hurt by them.”

“As an adult, it is my job and my responsibility to verify who I’m talking to and therefore, there is nobody to blame for this other than myself. I’m sorry that I added you. I’m sorry that I flirted with you and I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It is completely unacceptable,” he said. “The only way to actually show and prove I’m sorry is through action and change and I’m going to change,” he declared. “This whole situation has been embarrassing and I’m ashamed but like I said, I’m now educated and fully understand what went on.”

He closed his video, making sure to apologize one more time, adding that he’d be taking some time away from creating content. “My for you and explore pages are not dating apps and I will stop treating them as if they are. To the victims, I am so, so sorry and I promise that something like this will never, ever happen again.”