Jake Paul accusers said the YouTuber sexually assaulted a woman and groped a minor he called 'jailbait,' according to report
- YouTuber and celebrity fighter Jake Paul has been accused of sexual misconduct by two women.
- The latest accuser said Paul referred to her as "jailbait" and groped her when she was 17.
- The allegations were reported on by The New York Times, which corroborated their claims.
Controversial YouTuber Jake Paul is under new scrutiny after two women accused him of sexual assault on social media.
After TikTok influencer Justine Paradise, 24, alleged online that Paul forced her to perform non-consensual oral sex on him, The New York Times' Taylor Lorenz interviewed three of Paradise's friends who corroborated aspects of her account.
The Times investigation into claims against Paul and Team 10, the influencer collective he organized and fronted starting in 2017, follows his long history of controversies. Paul, 24, who has more than 20 million YouTube subscribers and who has made waves as a professional boxer, is ranked by a recent Insider poll as one of the most-disliked influencers.
In an April 13 tweet, Paul denied Paradise's allegations, and his lawyer told The Times that Paul "categorically denies" the accusation of oral rape. Paul's representatives didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Another woman, a 21-year-old model and actress named Railey Lollie, told The Times that she began working with Paul on Team 10 videos when she was 17. She told The Times Paul described her as "jailbait," a derogatory term meaning an underage person who is believed to be sexually appealing enough that an adult would be tempted to break the law to have sex with them.
In late 2017, when Lollie was still underage and Paul was 20, she says Paul forcefully groped her. Lollie said she told Paul to stop and he ran out of the room, according to The Times.
Paul has not faced financial fallout from the allegations
Paul's career has continued to reach new heights despite the allegations.
Paul's lucrative boxing career has earned him millions of dollars, he told ESPN last year. Paul also claimed he made "eight figures" alone for a match against former NBA player Nate Robinson. Most recently, Paul won a fight against former mixed martial arts champion Ben Askren, for which his disclosed pay was nearly $700,000.
As his career shifted toward more professional fighting, Paul announced at the end of 2020 that he would be selling the Team 10 mansion that was home to his influencer collective. He had previously accepted a federal pandemic bailout loan worth over $30,000 for Team 10.
In March of this year, Paul launched a venture capital fund - his most recent attempt with entrepreneurship after multiple failed businesses- that has already attracted committed capital from Andreessen Horowitz, one of the leading venture capital firms.
"If Jake's sponsors and investors don't hold him accountable, then why would he change any of his actions?" Paradise said to the Times.
In recent months, several influencers have faced monetary losses after massive scandals. Following a March 2021 Insider investigation into rape allegations against a former member of his influencer collective, YouTuber David Dobrik was temporarily demonetized on YouTube and he stepped down from his own VC-funded start-up, the photo-sharing app Dispo. YouTuber James Charles was similarly demonetized and lost a major sponsorship from makeup company Morphe after he apologized for sexting with minors. He said at the time, he was mistaken about their real age.
While Paul has routinely faced criticism and scorn on the internet, he hasn't suffered any similarly major consequences from any of his scandals. He was the target of an FBI raid on August 5, 2020, but was not formally charged with a crime. Misdemeanor charges in Arizona filed by the Scottsdale Police Department alleging Paul trespassed at a shopping mall earlier that summer were also dropped.
In The Times' investigation into Paul's conduct, a former member of Team 10 also described an exploitative environment for the young influencers who lived with Paul. AJ Mitchell, who moved into the Team 10 house when he was 14, told The Times that alcohol and marijuana were freely available to minors. Mitchell also said that he engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman more than a decade older than him whom he met at an influencer party.
"These older investors come in who have no idea about social media and they see he's got a lot of followers. From their perspective, it's success," Mitchell told The Times. "The real story is, Jake should not be getting any money from investors from the things he's done in the past."