James Charles breaks silence over lawsuit from ex-producer in new statement

11 May 2021, 13:00

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

By Katie Louise Smith

"I've been quiet online, but things behind the scenes have not been so quiet."

Despite saying that he has not returned to social media, James Charles has, in fact, kind of returned to social media to share a new, lengthy video statement condemning an upcoming article about him.

If you haven't been keeping up, James has taken himself offline following accusations that he flirted with minors on social media. James admitted to these claims in an apology video and has said that he is now taking time to "reflect and further educate" himself.

James popped back up on Twitter on Monday (May 10) to share a statement regarding a legal situation with a former employee, which he says is making him feel like he's being "taken advantage of" and "blackmailed".

An article detailing the lawsuit featuring the ex-employee is set to be published soon. In a bid to get ahead of the article, James shared his video statement, alleging that the employee has shared "untrue" and "defamatory" claims about him.

Who is suing James Charles?

James Charles breaks silence over lawsuit with ex-producer. Picture: @jamescharles via Instagram, Twitter

"Unfortunately, I'm logging in today because I feel as though I am being cornered and have to make yet another public statement," James says at the start of the video.

He continues: "I've been quiet online, but things behind the scenes have not been so quiet. There's a lot going on. And I currently feel as though the situation that I was in is being taken advantage of and I feel as though I'm being blackmailed."

James then explains the situation, saying that he's been dealing with an ongoing lawsuit from one of his previous employees for the past two years. That employee is apparently now speaking to the press about the whole situation, and James thinks it's "just perfect time, considering everything else that's going on."

"This person worked for me and then was later promoted to my producer, which means that she was no longer editing and she was helping me film videos and was like my right hand person for a salary of $72,000 a year," James says in the video. "She only worked for me for about six months and then was like 'Oh', and now I am being sued."

Dexerto reports that ex-producer Kelly Rocklein's lawsuit cites "wrongful termination" as the primary case. The suit also reportedly cites failure to pay all wages, disability discrimination, and failure to provide reasonable accommodation.

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A post shared by James Charles (@jamescharles)

James says that the suit "basically alleges that she was wrongfully terminated, overworked and underpaid, all of which are untrue." He also adds that "the case also kind of makes it seem like she's just trying to get back like the wages that she feels like she should have been paid for her work." James then reveals that the suit is "actually for hundreds of thousands of dollars."

James explained that it would probably be easier for him to settle, because "it's faster, it's cheaper, and it's a lot less of a headache." However, he said that settling is no longer an option because of the "absolutely ridiculous, absurd, untrue and defamatory" claims that he alleges will be included in the forthcoming article.

James says that he thinks the suit is "an attempt to pressure [him] into making a much, much higher settlement offer."

"I know that my lawyer has been like a topic of conversation, a meme, a part of my internet persona for a while now, and I get it. But contrary to popular belief, I have never, ever paid anybody to speak or to not speak about me," James says. "And this will not be the first time that I do it. And unfortunately, at this point, my only option is to pursue that to the fullest extent of the law, and hope that one day whenever it does get to a courtroom in the future, justice will be served."

pic.twitter.com/Bm8gHvbgeO
— James Charles (@jamescharles) May 11, 2021

Explaining why he felt the need to make the statement, James said: "I don't want this article to come out and just blindside people because it is going to come out. And when it does, I know that it's going to be bad."

"And I totally understand that people are going to think whatever they want to, regardless of what I say regardless of what receipts, screenshots, legal documents that I pull, and that's okay, that's, you know, everyone has a right to their opinion. I just want to give it some sort of explanation."