About

The James Charles Allegations Billboard is a billboard in Los Angeles, California meant to draw attention to allegations against beauty influencer James Charles, who admitted to inappropriately texting minors in 2021. The billboard encourages people to search "James Charles Allegations" online and learn more. It was paid for by Ethan Klein of the H3 Podcast, who hosted a competition on the podcast to decide the design of the billboard. The final design is inspired by Kendrick Lamar's song "Not Like Us," a diss track about Drake that calls the rapper out for allegations of inappropriately interacting with minors.

The billboard was put up on February 13th, 2026 and was paid to be kept up for three weeks, costing Klein about $10,000. The billboard went viral that month through reposts. Shortly after it was put up, the billboard was purportedly vandalized and covered by a black sheet. Initially, some suspected that Charles or someone in his circle paid to have the billboard removed early. According to Google Trends, searches for "James Charles allegations" spiked as the billboard went viral.

Background

The H3 Podcast's James Charles Billboard Competition

During the January 28th, 2026 episode of the H3 Show on YouTube,^[1] the host, Ethan Klein, officially announced a competition where viewers would design billboards that draw attention to James Charles' allegations of inappropriately texting minors. According to a 2021 publication by the BBC^[2] and other media outlets, Charles admitted to sending sexually explicit messages to 16-year-olds.

Klein has been a longstanding critic of Charles, who he believes did not suffer enough reputational harm from the allegations. Reasons include Charles still getting millions of views on his content, getting major brand deals and opportunities, such as an invite to the season two premiere of MrBeast's Beast Games,^[3] and because several of Klein's videos calling out Charles on TikTok were removed by TikTok as they were going viral, which he believes may be a concerted effort by the app to protect Charles.

On February 4th, 2026, episode 231 of the H3 Show was broadcast on YouTube.^[4] At about the 47:00 minute timestamp, the audience voted on submissions to the competition. The winner was a billboard inspired by Kendrick Lamar's song "Not Like Us," reading, "Say, James, I hear you like 'em young." This was changed in the final billboard design to read, "Say, James, I hear you text 'em young," with a BBC source and the text "Paid for by Ted Entertainment" added across the bottom.

According to Klein, the billboard cost an estimated $10,000 and was paid to be kept up for three weeks.

Developments

James Charles Billboard Posted / Virality

On Friday February 13th, 2026, the James Charles billboard was put up on Olympus Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Photos of the billboard were posted online shortly after. For example, on February 14th, Redditor u/bondwad posted a photo to the /r/h3h3productions^[5] subreddit that gained over 2,400 upvotes in two days.

The billboard went viral across social media. For example, on February 14th, a post sharing the billboard on the /r/popculturechat^[6] subreddit gained over 12,000 upvotes in two days. On the same day, the @the.hollywood.fix.tiktok TikTok^[7] account posted a video about the billboard that gained over 4.7 million views in the same span of time.

That same day, TikToker @spillsesh posted a video talking about the billboard, garnering over 640,000 views in two days. Klein posted a Stitch on TikTok^[8] reacting to SpillSesh's video that day, in which he further explains his reasoning for putting up the billboard in the first place, garnering over 485,000 views in two days.

Billboard Vandalized

On February 15th, 2026, Klein posted a photo of the billboard with a black sheet covering it on his Instagram Story, writing:

It appears the billboard was removed. The predator protection gears are turning. I will get to the bottom of this. No mercy for predators or those protecting them. This is the beginning not the end. Fuck you James Charles and all that would protect you. Now I shall double my efforts.

Later that day, Klein posted an update on his Story, writing, "We spoke to management. The billboard is going back up. Confirmed that it was vandalized. Stay tuned." These Story posts were archived and post to the /r/h3h3productions^[9][10] subreddit.

Online Reactions

James Charles Victim Ethan Rhett's Reaction

On February 14th, 2026, Ethan Rhett, an alleged victim of James Charles who has publicly claimed that Charles inappropriately messaged him when he was a minor, posted a video on TikTok^[11] thanking Klein and the H3 Podcast crew for putting up the billboard and continuing to spread the word about Charles' allegations. The video gained over 429,000 views in two days.

On February 15th, Rhett posted another video on TikTok^[12] reacting to the news that the billboard was taken down, further speaking out against Charles, garnering over 500,000 views in a day.

For context, Rhett alleged that Charles made advances on him when he was only 14 years old in a video posted to TikTok in December 2025.^[13]

Memes / Reactions

The billboard inspired many memes and reactions online, largely on the /r/h3h3productions subreddit and in the comment sections of TikTok videos related to the billboard.

On February 15th, 2026, Redditor u/Ok-Cupcake-5261 posted a meme to the /r/h3h3productions^[14] subreddit that depicts Klein as Kendrick Lamar strutting across the stage while rapping, "Say, Drake," during his 2025 Super Bowl performance. The post is titled, "Saw this circulating in the tik tok comments 😂," and gained over 2,300 upvotes in a day.

On February 16th, Redditor u/kmsasaki made a post on the /r/h3h3productions^[15] subreddit titled, "I think I found who vandalized the billboard 😳" sharing an edit that depicts James Charles adding the words "and hairy" after "Say, James, I hear you text 'em young," gaining over 250 upvotes in under a day.

This is a reference to an alleged, leaked Snapchat screenshot where Charles asks someone to send him an armpit photo.^[16]

Search Interest

External References