James Charles has made a brief return to social media to get ahead of yet another drama.
On May 10th, the disgraced influencer took to Twitter to address an ongoing lawsuit that he believes may soon affect his public image. In a 7-minute video, James explains that an ex-employee is suing him for wrongful termination as well as failure to pay all wages, disability discrimination, and failure to provide reasonable accommodation. Despite filing the suit two years ago, James says this ex-employee is taking advantage of his current ‘cancellation‘ by speaking with the press about her alleged experiences working for the YouTuber.
James says he feels “taken advantage of” and “blackmailed” by this individual who he promoted from editor to video producer before letting her go about 6 months into her employment.
According to the YouTube star, an article about the lawsuit was set to drop soon. “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,” James says. He also insists the claims made by his ex-producer in the article are “untrue” and “defamatory”. On May 11th, journalist Kat Tenbarge published an exposé for Insider detailing the producer’s alleged experience.
Though settling would be “faster,” “cheaper,” and “a lot less of a headache,” James says he plans to see this lawsuit out as he claims this a pattern of behaviour for his ex-employee.
“Unfortunately, at this point, my only option is to pursue that to the fullest extent of the law,” James explains. “And hope that one day whenever it does get to a courtroom in the future, justice will be served.”
While the aforementioned article has not yet been released, fans have been left wondering who this producer is and which other influencers she has allegedly sued.
Who is the producer suing James Charles?
According to several reports, the producer’s name is Kelly Rocklein, a former freelance editor, creative director, and producer for several influencers including Jake Paul and Team 10, Justin Roberts, Eva Gutowski, and Erika Costell.
Kelly also sued Erika Costell, who she worked for around 2017, tweeting earlier this year that she “won” the case and is “going 2 for 2 because I’m all about law and order”— likely referencing her lawsuit against James.
Kelly has seemingly moved on from the creator space, acting now as the CEO of Rootly, a vegan food box subscription based in Los Angeles.
Throughout the article, Kelly tells Insider that James was difficult to work with and was promised an annual bonus if she worked “really hard.” She alleges she had to “pick James out of bed, tell him to brush his teeth” and took care of him like a “child”. She says James walked around the house naked in front of her, called her “bitch,” and asked her to do things that make her feel “extremely uncomfortable”.
She then claims he terminated her employment after a freak accident led her to being hospitalised which “caused her to miss time at work and caused delays in meeting video production goals,” as per the suit.
Check back for updates on this evolving story.