James Charles recounts terrifying SWAT team incident after his address leaked online

30 September 2022, 17:22

James Charles opens up about terrifying swatting incident

By Emma Kershaw

"I looked out the window and there were several policemen running by with massive shields and massive guns”

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James Charles has opened up about a terrifying incident where his house was swatted.

The YouTuber spoke of the ordeal in the viral 'One Thing About Me' TikTok trend, where creators recount scary or bizarre stories to the beat of 'Super Freaky Girl' by Nicki Minaj.

In the video, which has received over 970,000 likes at the time of writing, the makeup mogul revealed his home was invaded by the SWAT team after his address was leaked online.

James Charles Swatted TikTok. Picture: Getty / TikTok: @jamescharles

When James was 19, fans began to visit his home after his address got posted on the internet. In what was seemingly a prank, one person called the police on James, telling them that he had bombs and was holding people hostage on his property.

“It was 3 a.m. and I was sleeping when I was awoken by pounding on my door,” James began to explain. He initially thought that the banging was coming from another fan who had inappropriately visited his home.

“Turns out, it was not a fan at all,” he continued. “it was the SWAT team at my house. I walked down the stairs in my underwear and, before I got to the door, I looked out the window and there were several policemen running by with massive shields and massive guns”.

James went on to reveal that there was a “red dot” on his forehead and he thought he was “going to die”.

As he opened his front door, the officers yelled at him to “get on the ground” before asking him how many hostages he had in the house. When he explained it was a misunderstanding, the officers didn’t believe him.

James and his roommate at the time were then put in handcuffs and were ordered to sit on the curb for three hours while police searched the house. “Thank God that my neighbours came outside and they told them we were fine.”

Fans were quick to comment on the video which played light of the very stressful event.

“This is a rollercoaster,” one person wrote. “I WOULD NEVER RECOVER,” said another. A third commented: “I think this is the best video you’ve ever posted”, while a fourth wrote: “Swear this is the only tiktok of this trend where i actually watched the entire thing”.

As the story came to a close, James said that it was one of the most traumatic experiences of his life and something that prompted him to move house. No kidding!