Brands cut ties to UK rapper Yung Filly charged with rape in Perth
Written by admin on October 13, 2024
A British rapper charged with sexual assault and now stranded in Western Australia has been suspended by a host of his commercial partners.
Rapper and YouTuber Yung Filly – real name Andrés Felipe Valencia Barrientos – was arrested in Brisbane this week and extradited back to Perth.
Mr Barrientos, 29, was granted bail with strict conditions, including surrendering his passport, making a personal undertaking of $100,000 and a surety of $100,000.
The charges and bail conditions leave him effectively stranded in WA until at least his next court appearance on December 19, and also bar him from entering any licenced premises.
Mr Barrientos has been charged with three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, four counts of sexual penetration without consent and one count of impeding another person’s normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the neck.
Since he has been charged, various commercial deals of Mr Barrientos’ have turned sour.
Food business Heinz and clothing label ASOS have pulled down content featuring Mr Barrientos.
He was due to launch a live podcast in London next week; that show has been scrapped.
The performer had already filmed part of a cooking show which was a partnership with the Football Association – the English football governing body – and a food brand, plus star players from Arsenal and Aston Villa. That deal is off, the BBC reports.
Mr Barrientos regularly features on a popular YouTube channel with other influencers; the latest few videos feature him, the most recent being posted earlier this week.
“In light of these extremely serious charges, we are suspending our contract with Yung Filly with immediate effect,” a spokesperson for the channel said.
Mr Barrientos has more than three million followers on Instagram, nearly two million subscribers on YouTube and his music has millions of streams on Spotify.
He has hosted shows on the BBC channel which targets 16 to 34-year-olds, and won a British MOBO award – music of black origin – for best media personality in 2021.
He has presented BBC Three shows, appeared in the UK on Soccer Aid on ITV and The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer on Channel 4.
Mr Barrientos also won a MOBO Award for best media personality in 2021.
Late Saturday morning the rapper and entertainer was spotted entering Perth’s major central police station to check in. He was inside for about five minutes, and did not speak to waiting reporters on his way in or out.
The alleged incident took place in a hotel room after Mr Barrientos played a show at a seaside venue in Perth’s northern suburbs on September 27.
He was escorted by police from Queensland on Wednesday and faced court in Perth on Thursday where he was bailed.
Read related topics:Perth
