YouTuber accuses Jake Paul of taking credit for his NAACP fundraiser

Jake Paul just can’t seem to stay out of trouble. On June 4, the YouTuber was charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly after footage showed him at Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, Ariz., while it was being looted and destroyed. And now, fellow YouTuber Frederic Chen is accusing the internet personality of taking credit for his NAACP fundraiser.

On June 2, Chen — who goes by ThatMidgetAsian on YouTube — uploaded a video titled “I’m leaving YouTube” in an effort to raise money for the NAACP. According to Chen, the video managed to raise $10,000 in less than an hour.

Well, on June 3, just a day after Chen created the fundraiser, Paul added the fundraiser to a video in which he denies participating in the looting and vandalizing of Fashion Square Mall.

With Paul’s help, Chen’s fundraiser has raised $42,168 at the time of writing. However, Chen recently pointed out via TikTok  that Jake Paul seems to be taking all the credit for the fundraiser that Chen started.

“Imagine you make a video about Black Lives Matter and you put a fundraiser and it raises around $32,000 within the first three days,” Chen said in the video. “Now imagine Jake Paul makes a video three days later and puts your fundraiser — that’s me, the organizer — and then you go to Jake Paul’s Twitter and you see that he’s taken all the credit that you raised!”

On June 4, Paul responded to a fan’s tweet noting that he “raised $32,000 in 20 minutes,” saying, “with yalls help.” (It appears that Paul has since deleted his response.)

Naturally, people were upset with this revelation, especially seeing as Paul was spotted on camera with looters just days before.

“How does he f*** up so many times how is that even possible,” one person said.

“This dude just proves himself to be more and more of a scumbag every week,” another user added.

“Ugh. Ew. Such a waste of carbon,” a third person noted. “He will apparently never learn. Ever.”

In a series of follow-up tweets, Chen clarified that though exposure of the fundraiser is “good, no matter what,” it’s not okay for Paul to “manipulate his audience into thinking he genuinely cares about social change.”

“Don’t forget this boy denied his looting allegations in that SAME video, and then got arrested for looting a day later,” Chen said.

Several other influencers have been similarly called out for seemingly capitalizing off of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has gained traction in response to the recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as the numerous Black people who have lost their lives to police brutality.

Singer Madison Beer, for instance, was accused of staging photos at a Black Lives Matter protest, though she has denied these accusations. Several other micro-influencers have also been called out for posing in front of looted buildings simply to promote their social media brands.

If you’re looking for a way to make a difference, check out our roundup of 20 Black-owned fashion brands to support today, tomorrow and always.

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