James Charles responded to claims that he was in a romantic relationship with content creator Evan Johnson, who went to trial for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend Kayla Malec. In a TikTok video posted on May 7, Charles said, “I do not support Evan Johnson in any way, shape or form, and let me make that f*cking clear.” Additionally, he said that while he did have a “brief friendship” with Johnson, the two never had a sexual relationship, saying, “Evan Johnson and I did not — in any way, shape, or form — have a sexual relationship. We did not have sex while he was here, and I did not under any circumstances pay Evan Johnson for sexual favors.” Her Campus reached out to Johnson’s team for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
Charles went on to say in his TikTok, “I don’t support him, I don’t support violence against women, and I sure as hell don’t support the disgusting, deplorable, violent, heinous acts that he committed against Kayla Malec behind closed doors.” Charles also said the he had tried to get into contact with Malec over the past few weeks to tell her the truth, but that she was “unwilling” to have a conversation with him. “Frankly, I don’t f*cking blame her,” Charles said. “After I watched the laughable interview between Bee Better and Zack Sellars, I wouldn’t want to have a conversation with me either if I was being fed complete bullsh*t lies and misinformation from the person who’s only source of information is the same man who lied to and abused me for nine months straight.”
The allegations came about after Johnson’s supposed former best friend, Zack Sellars, spoke out about Johnson’s reported involvement with Charles in a YouTube video with Markos Bitsakakis (also known as Bee Better).
In the aforementioned hour-long interview, Sellars alleged that Charles and Johnson had a romantic and sexual relationship after Johnson’s breakup with Malec. Sellars also claimed that, after he posted a series of videos about Charles and Johnson, Charles had reached out to him privately and asked him to take them down. Charles said that everything in the interview was “complete bullsh*t,” saying in part, “There is no proof, no evidence of any of the ridiculous claims that Zack is making because they did not happen, which is why I have no choice other than to take legal action.”
Prior to his TikTok, Charles posted on his TikTok story on May 6, “I DO NOT SUPPORT EVAN JOHNSON.” He also added, “I am hoping & praying Kayla gets justice tomorrow. As I promised her privately, I will not be responding publicly to anything until after the hearing is over.” On May 7, Malec posted on TikTok that she had won her case against Johnson.
Charles also said that he would be pursuing legal action against Bitsakakis, Sellars, and any other public figure who has spread “misinformation” about his involvement with Johnson.