Jake Paul is once again facing backlash. The 23-year-old YouTuber has come under fire for throwing a party in his Calabasas, California, mansion amid a rising number of coronavirus cases in the state.
The criticism against Paul comes after videos of the party surfaced on social media, showing the packed bash with neither social-distancing measures in place nor attendees wearing masks.
Alicia Weintraub, the mayor of the California city, told Fox 11 that she and “everyone who saw the video” were “outraged” by the party.
“They’re having this large party, no social distancing, no masks, it’s just a big huge disregard for everything that everybody is trying to do to get things back to functioning,” Weintraub said. “It’s really just a party acting like COVID does not exist, it’s acting that businesses aren’t closed.”
Weintraub told the outlet that she’s working with the Lost Hills Sheriff’s station to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for house parties moving forward.
“No gatherings will be tolerated like this,” she said. “Something like this will not happen again.”
Paul has yet to respond to the backlash, but he did retweet fellow YouTube star Tyler Oakley’s message that criticized the party.
“F**k you, @jakepaul,” Oakley wrote in a tweet that featured video from the party.
Last month, multiple outlets reported that Paul was charged for unlawfully entering and remaining inside the Scottsdale Fashion Square mall in Arizona when it was closed.
ABC 7 reported that law enforcement said the YouTube star “was present after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and the rioters were ordered to leave the area by police.” Paul was charged with two misdemeanors, criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly.
After news broke that he had been charged, Paul tweeted: “Gimme my charges and let’s put the focus back on George Floyd and Black Lives Matter.”
In a second statement, Paul denied that he or anyone in his group was “engaged in any looting or vandalism” and added that “we spent the day doing our part to peacefully protest one of the most horrific injustices our country has ever seen.”
