YouTube star Yung Filly, the rapper and internet personality, has been arrested and charged with rape in Australia. The British content creator, whose real name is Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos, was on tour in Australia when he was arrested in Brisbane before appearing in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday 10 October. Yung Filly remains in custody; according to local news reports, fans of his were in court for the hearing.
Yung Filly, 29, has been charged with four counts of sexual penetration without consent, three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of impeding another person’s breathing or circulation by applying pressure to the neck. The alleged attack followed a performance at the Perth nightclub Bar120 on Saturday 28 September, with a woman in her 20s who he allegedly brought back to his hotel room.
Photos of the woman’s injuries were provided by the prosecution, who told the magistrate, ‘No ordinary person can consent in these circumstances. Across her body is a history of violent acts… We say these photos and what is alleged is beyond the pale, beyond what could be considered to be a consensual act.’
Who is Yung Filly?
Yung Filly – real name Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos – is a Colombia-born British internet personality and musician. The rapper rose to fame on YouTube, where he started his account in 2013 and now has more than 1.84 million followers. Yung Filly is best known for his collaborations with fellow internet personality Chunkz and his work with the Beta Squad video collective.
While he’s a prominent internet figure, he’s also branched out into more mainstream media in recent years. He’s hosted the BBC Three shows Hot Property and Yung Filly’s Celeb Lock-In, and had appeared on The Great Celebrity Bake Off and Soccer Aid, as well as game shows Would I Lie To You?, Blankety Blank and Don’t Hate The Playaz.
As a musician, Yung Filly had recently released his new single ‘Tempted’ and has previously collaborated with Chip and Aitch, the latter on the single ‘Grey’ which was released earlier this year. He was touring Australia at the time of his arrest.
Are Yung Filly and Chunkz still friends?
Much of Yung Filly’s internet presence comes in collaboration with fellow YouTuber Chunkz. The pair featured together on Chicken Shop Date four years ago and co-host the popular podcast The Chunkz and Yung Filly Show – which has more than 660,000 YouTube subscribers – together.
Chunkz, whose real name is Amin Mohamed, responded to the reports on Instagram following Yung Filly's arrest. 'Yes my people, like everyone I have heard the reports coming out of Australia,' he said. 'While I understand that many of you want my reaction on it, as this is an ongoing court case I hope you guys can understand that I can't and won't be commenting on it publicly. So yeah, I want to let you know the reason why I can't. Love.'
When Yung Filly was charged, people began asking one question: are Yung Filly and Chunkz still friends? Many social media users had believed that the pair had fallen out, after Chunkz and Yung Filly admitted to clashing on an episode of their podcast in April. However, as far as we can tell, the pair were still friends at the time of Yung Filly’s arrest. The last episode of their podcast was posted six days before his address, when the pair were scheduled to play their first ever sold-out live show at London’s Troxy the following week. However, the gig was cancelled.