NOTE: This article contains graphic, sexual language that some readers may find offensive and disturbing. Please read at your own discretion.
YouTuber Austin McBroom has responded to rape allegations by makeup artist Cole Carrigan, who claims his friend was involved in an alleged sexual assault.
McBroom, a former college basketball player, took to Twitter after Carrigan posted a YouTube video of unverified accusations involving McBroom taking advantage of Carrigan’s close friend, who he claims was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA).
“If you have not heard, I have recently been a victim of extortion, defamation and slander,” McBroom wrote on Twitter. “I knew this was a cold world but never did I foresee something this disturbing upon me.”
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McBroom continued: “Thank you to all of my ACE Family members for all of your concerns and thank you to those who know my character and my heart. I don’t wish this upon anyone and I can only hope that those responsible for this learn from their mistakes and become better people.”
“My family and I (are) dealing with this matter privately and taking legal action. Bullying, extortion, slander and defamation of character is something I will not stand for and I can promise that justice will be served,” McBroom tweeted and attached screenshots from Leslie Hannahbelle’s conversation with Carrigan.
Hannahbelle claims to be the second individual involved in the situation who said that McBroom “was not to blame” and that he “did not rape me or anyone.”
“I feel like this video was made for the wrong reasons, and this wasn’t Cole’s story to tell. Cole even texted me saying we could potentially get $100,000 from this, following the claim that Drama Alert was paid off $500K,” she alleged in the screenshots shared by McBroom. “I wasn’t aware Amanda or Cole were in contact with Drama Alert to anonymously run our story.”
Hannahbelle’s screenshot with Carrigan showed her text message to the YouTube makeup artist.
“Hey, sorry I didn’t hear you out. You caught me off guard texting me and I overacted,” she texted Carrigan.
She showed a portion of Carrigan’s response, which read, “Yeah no I get it no worries… enough proof but the point of this is not to upload a video the point of this is to scare them into them paying us off because they paid drama alert 500 K so I’m sure they would pay me 100 K or more not to say sh– and then I would split that with you guys if you help me and send me all the receipts that I need.”
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Carrigan posted a YouTube video on Monday titled, The Truth About The Ace Family, which has been viewed over six million times.
“This video had to be made and i hope u guys can understand. thank u for watching..” Carrigan wrote in the description for the video.
In the video, Carrigan went into detail about his “good friend” that claimed McBroom raped her in a Miami hotel and said that McBroom also allegedly tried to force himself on a second unidentified woman.
Carrigan also said that gossip vlogger Keem was paid $500,000 by the ACE family in order to keep the story out of the blogs.
Keem addressed Carrigan’s claim in a tweet, writing, “Dude asked me how much did the AceFamily paid to not make the vid, I said $500k sarcastically. Now he said making a expose vid. Truth is the woman I planned on interviewing went MIA. Thought it was rude he would assume that I would sell out my multiple million dollar brand.”
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Later on Oct. 15, McBroom released another statement on Twitter.
“I would like to start off by saying that me and my family are taking this situation very seriously on the allegations that have been brought upon me. Like I mentioned already, we are taking legal action to handle this matter of extortion,” McBroom said in a statement.
He continued: “We have sought out the top legal advice and have fired a former Senior Prosecutor, who is an ex Deputy District Attorney will now be handling everything from here on out regarding this matter. We are confident that Mr. (blank) will seek the truth in this matter and hold those accountable for their extortion,” McBroom wrote, signing his name at the bottom of the statement.
McBroom is engaged to Catherine Paiz, who he runs the ACE Family YouTube channel with.
McBroom and Paiz share two daughters, Elle Lively McBroom, 2, and Alaïa Marie McBroom, who was born in October 2018.
Paiz, who was born in Montreal, and McBroom have been engaged since 2017 and have yet to get married.
The ACE Family YouTube channel has over 17 million subscribers and their description says that their videos include “vlogs, crazy experiences, challenges, pranks and fun family times.”
The couple joined YouTube in January 2016 but gained more popularity after Kylie Jenner threw their gender reveal party for their second daughter, Alaïa.
None of the allegations against McBroom has been verified or proven.
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