UK rapper & YouTuber Yung Filly charged with rape over allegations he ‘attacked & strangled’ woman on Australian tour
BRIT YouTuber Yung Filly has been charged with rape after he allegedly attacked and strangled a woman.
Detectives arrested Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, 29, in Brisbane on Tuesday while the rapper was in Australia on tour.
The cops sent him to Perth on Wednesday to face a hearing after the alleged attack happened there following a show.
Filly, who has 1.8m subscribers on YouTube, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s in his Perth hotel on September 28.
The alleged assault unfolded after a performance at Bar1 Nightclub in the suburb of Hillarys on the night of September 27.
Detectives from Western Australia Police’s sexual assault squad charged Filly with four counts of sexual penetration without consent.
They also arrested him on three counts of assault and one count of impede a person’s normal breathing or circulation by applying pressure to their neck.
He appeared at Perth Magistrates Court Thursday, where his application for bail was adjourned until later in the day.
Footage of the rapper performing at Perth’s Bar1 Nightclub was posted to TikTok by the venue.
The raucous show had a packed crowd rapping along with Filly’s songs.
Filly’s lawyer revealed in court his client earns $700,000AUD (£360,000) a year from social media alone.
Filly boasts over three million followers on Instagram and nearly two million YouTube subscribers.
Fans of Filly gathered outside the court and sat inside the public gallery during the hearing, while others commented on the bar’s social media channels.
One said: “Free filly man.”
Another wrote: “I need to know chunkz reaction to what he allegedly did.”
While a third posted: “This broke my heart.”
The popular online personality began his online career in 2013 before breaking into the music industry in 2017.
He is best known for being an integral part of the group called Beta Squad and working with Sidemen.
Filly’s career has been boosted by several television appearances and hosting gigs.
He presented on the BBC’s Hot Property and his own Yung Filly’s Celeb Lock-In.
The YouTuber has also featured on Channel 4’s The Great Celebrity Bake Off.
Who is Yung Filly?
By Joanne Kavanagh and Charlotte Everett
YUNG Filly’s rise to fame saw him start out as a social media star.
The influencer got his big break on YouTube before moving into mainstream TV.
Although he goes by Yung Filly, his real name is Andres Felipé Barrientos.
He was born on August 6, 1995, and moved to the UK from Colombia when he was two years old.
Filly then relocated to southeast London during his childhood.
When asked what it was like growing up in the capital, he told Indy100: “I come from the bottom of the barrel…and that’s why I’m so grateful for the position I’m in now.
“My mum definitely shaped me with the lessons she taught me.
“She’s a single mum with three kids, my dad was a s*** dad so she just had to make it happen.
“She did loads of cleaning jobs. My mum worked at Poundland at the time I had some mad BBC series…just getting my mum out of the position she was in was just the biggest motivation.”
Filly is best known for being a member of the comedy group known as The Wall of Comedy.
He is affiliated with fellow YouTuber Chunkz and the pair have collaborated on many videos and tracks.
Over the years, Filly has also taken part in The Sidemen‘s Charity Football Match, organised by members Josh Bradley, Simon Minter, Tobi Brown, KSI, Ethan Payne, Vikram Barn and Harry Lewis.
