UPDATE: WTH is Happening With YouTuber and Boxer Jake Paul?!
YouTuber Jake Paul was gearing up this week for another high-profile boxing match. This time, the pay-per-view Triller match is
Ivy Griffith
YouTuber Jake Paul was gearing up this week for another high-profile boxing match. This time, the pay-per-view Triller match is versus Ben Askren. But Paul’s plans were derailed after a fellow YouTuber Justine Paradise put him on blast on her channel—accusing Paul of sexual assault. So what happened and what does Paul have to say for himself? Paradise’s honest and revealing video has stunned fans of Paul and raised an outcry online over one of YouTube’s favorite bad boys.
UPDATED
Justine Paradise Drops a Bomb
Jake Paul has always been perhaps more infamous than famous, known for his edgy videos and bad boy persona on YouTube. Now, however, his edgy aura looks ominous against the backdrop of new accusations from a 2019 encounter with the influencer.
YouTuber Justine Paradise, with 10.9K subscribers of her own, has recounted in a video a harrowing and heartbreaking encounter with Paul from the summer of 2019. According to Paradise, she and a mutual friend went to hang out at a studio—Paradise did not know it would be the famous Team 10 house, where Paul and his pals live and collab on their channel content. Once there, Paradise said she came across Paul while in the house, and they exchanged numbers. At first, Paul was normal but awkward—often texting Paradise even while in the same room. From the first time she texted with Paul on June 1 2019 to the night of the assault, July 20th 2019, Paradise claims that Paul was frequently seen entering his bedroom with women. Different women, all the time. Which, Paradise assures, doesn’t bother her but it does set the stage for the kind of person Paul is and how he handles relationships.
Paradise says she felt as though Paul was used to getting what he wants and he gave off the air of someone who was lacking in social skills because they never needed to develop them. Paul frequently asked Paradise to come over, but when she was there he would text her instead of speaking face to face, a situation which Paradise says felt like middle school crush hours.
On the night of July 20, Paul took Paradise by the hand and led her into his bedroom. Paradise says she was used to people respecting her boundaries, so it didn’t occur to her that Paul wouldn’t. However, after a make-out session in Paul’s bed, Paradise was making it clear that she had boundaries and wasn’t ready for sex. Paul stopped after few more rebuffed efforts and said, “If nothing is going to happen, then what’s the point?”
Flabbergasted, Paradise explains that she was stunned by his statement, and uncomfortable. At that point, Paul stood up, grabbed Paradise by the head, and proceeded to sexually assault her, by means of forcible oral assault.
After Paul ejaculated, the stunned Paradise recounts that she was confused and disoriented. Paul gave Paradise a hug, then said, “let’s go back to the stu[dio].”
As soon as he finished, Paul turned cold and demanding, telling Paradise to leave the room; get her phone and go. From that point on, Paul no longer responded to her texts despite efforts from Paradise to reach out and discuss what happened. Paradise explains that, at first, she had rationalized in her head that maybe Paul didn’t realize how wrong his behavior was, and maybe he was unaware of how he made her feel. Paradise hoped to speak with him to gain some closure and healing, but Paul remained incommunicado.
Paul’s Big Match
This horrifying revelation comes in the middle of a huge week for Paul. Paul has a big Triller pay-per-view match April 17th against mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler Ben Askren. Paul in recent years has tried to grow beyond his YouTube reputation and start down the path of a professional boxer, with several high profile fights.
This one is supposed to be a doozy, with a skilled opponent and huge entertainment billing for the match. Justin Bieber is expected to perform, along with Doja Cat. However, the news about the assault allegation is fresh so it’s unclear what impact it may have on the match against Askren.
What Paul Has to Say For Himself and Why Paradise Wanted to Share
In the past hour, Paul has spoken out about the allegations. TMZ reports, “Now, Paul is firing back in a statement through his attorney Daniel E. Gardenswartz—calling BS on the whole story and vowing to take legal action of his own.
‘While others have already begun to debunk the claim alleged against him, our client categorically denies the allegation and has every intention of aggressively disproving it and pursuing legal action against those responsible for the defamation of his character,’ Gardenswartz said.
‘Our client believes that any false allegations diminish the credibility of those who have truly been victims of misconduct.’”
While it’s clear Paul hopes to sweep this incident under the rug by any means necessary, Paradise isn’t likely to go down so easily. The YouTuber says that she still thinks about the assault every day, and wanted to speak out to warn other women about Paul’s behavior. For a long time, Paradise stayed quiet about the assault because she was unsure if she could speak about it – visitors to the Team 10 house sign an NDA upon entering – but now that she knows she can and should, the floodgates are open.
Paul may hope to silence her with a threat of a lawsuit, but Paradise has brought receipts in the form of text messages, pictures, and witnesses from the moments after the assault.
UPDATED 4/14/21 5AM
Since the publication of this story, Jake Paul has made a statement on social media. Per Paul’s Twitter account, the YouTuber has responded:
“Sexual assault allegations aren’t something that I, or anyone else should take lightly, but to be crystal clear, this claim made against me is 100% false.
Not only have I never had any sexual relationship with this individual, but this claim is solely a manufactured accusation and a blatant attempt for attention during a highly visible fight week. Make no mistake, I plan on pursuing this defamation of character case to the fullest extent of the law. There are irreparable damages from these types of accusations, and more importantly, false allegations of this nature diminish those who have truly been victims of misconduct.
Again, this individual is directly using the attention from her social media posts and video to promote her adult content website and Amazon shopping list – designed for people to buy her gifts. These allegations come conveniently for her, almost 2 years after the alleged incident and the week of my fight (of course).
At the time of her story I was in a relationship, and as someone who was a momma’s boy growing up, I respect women and mothers more than anything. I most certainly have never laid a finger on a girl without their consent.
I will fight this to the end to prove my innocence. This isn’t the first preposterous allegation made against me in my career and it most likely won’t be the last. As someone who has lived in the spotlight since the age of 16, dealing with liars, fake news, and false accusations unfortunately is a part of the job. I won’t back down from it and years from now my character as individual will show and shine through these dark moments.”
With the number of grammatical mistakes, it would appear that Paul was allowed to draft his own response, an unusual move in the face of an upcoming legal case. Paradise has not yet responded directly to Paul’s social media statement. At the time of this update, Paradise’s video accusing Paul has 735K views on YouTube despite allegations from big-name news YouTubers like Philip DeFrancothat the site is suppressing related videos in their algorithm to protect one of their biggest grossing stars.
This story is developing.
IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED OR A VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE, VISIT RAINN OR CALL 1-800-656-4673 TO CONTACT THE NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE. YOU MAY ALSO TEXT “STRENGTH” TO THE CRISIS HELP LINE AT 741-741 TO SPEAK TO A CERTIFIED CRISIS COUNSELOR.