ProJared has just addressed the Snapchat nudes controversy, where he allegedly sent nudes to fans through Snapchat while requesting them in return. The YouTube video is simply titled “You’ve been lied to” with Jared Knabenbauer, commonly known as ProJared, refuting the accusations that he had requested nudes from minors.
In the video, ProJared confirmed that he did ask for nudes, but to “consenting adults only.” He stressed that nothing would be shared or saved without explicit permission, and that it was never meant to be an abuse of power.
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ProJared claimed that he never offered anyone anything in return for the Snapchat nudes, like making them a Twitch mod or giving early access to a YouTube video. However, he admitted that there was a “power imbalance” based on who he is and what he does; even if nothing was offered, people would still do it because he is “a YouTuber.” ProJared denied that his behavior was predatory, but it was unhealthy, and he apologized for that in the video.
“I completely understand how you feel and why you feel that way, and I’m sorry,” he said. “I feel that what I was doing was not predatory, but it was unhealthy.”
ProJared then went on to refute the claims coming from two of his main accusers, Chai and Charlie. In the meantime, both have deleted the tweets accusing him of misbehavior, but ProJared has the receipts, and unveils a tangled web filled with alleged lies. The pair’s allegations that ProJared knew they were underage and acted knowingly and intentionally were refuted in the video.
Projared claimed that Charlie carefully cropped conversations to make it look like he knew he was underage. On the other hand, a Medium blog page shows a bleak vision of Chai, as she confessed to hearing voices, and being plagued with hallucinations and thoughts of aggression, after being hospitalized due to a basketball accident. ProJared said he believes that this text was made up to garner sympathy, and that it was another situation where perhaps people shouldn’t believe on Chai’s word.
The NormalBoots situation was also addressed. The team made a statement that ProJared was no longer a part of it, but he wasn’t fired – he resigned. He didn’t want to see the team being dragged down by this controversy, something that was already visible in the negativity surrounding some of their videos, with substantial subscriber losses. His said his decision was made so that NormalBoots “wouldn’t take any more additional collateral damage.”
This Reddit thread has a great timeline for the whole ProJared story, in case you want to see how everything unfolded.
[Image Credit: ProJared/YouTube]
