On Tuesday, Patreon banned the controversial YouTuber Onision, after he allegedly doxxed a woman who says he harassed her and manipulated her into a sexual relationship.
Onision, who is also known as Gregory Jackson and James Jackson, has been a popular creator for nearly a decade on YouTube, often including a rotating cast of fans, friends and girlfriends in his videos. At least six women are now accusing him of harassment and emotional abuse.
On Sunday night, Onision tweeted screenshots of private text messages between himself and another YouTuber, Billie Dawn Webb. Webb is a former fan who recently accused Onision of pressuring her into sex with him and his current partner. One of those screenshots contained Webb’s phone number. Twitter forbids its users from posting the personal information of others, like non-public phone numbers and email addresses without their express consent, and the tweet was removed within an hour of being posted.
Reached for comment, Twitter pointed The Verge to its policy on private information, saying that screenshots do not violate the platform’s rules. However, screenshots including phone numbers do. The tweet may have been removed before Twitter saw any such reports.
A Patreon spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that it considered those actions to be doxxing, which violates its platform’s rules and justified Onision’s ban. “Yes, we removed Onision from Patreon as he violated our Bullying and Harassment as it relates to doxing,” a Patreon spokesperson told The Verge.
Patreon has a strict policy against doxxing, even if it occurs outside the company’s platform. “Patreon does not allow creators to use Patreon to fund the practice of doxing,” Patreon says in a blog post. “Our Community Guidelines clearly prohibit doxing and say that any creator caught in the act of malicious doxing — or encouraging others to do so — may be banned from using Patreon.”
Reached for comment, Onision said he was confused about why the ban had been levied. “I broke up with [Webb] in 2016,” he wrote. “She has been upset with me ever since. I posted screen shots where I complimented our relationship all those years ago, expressing how I was sad about how it couldn’t work out.”
Before being banned, Onision had around 560 supporters on Patreon.
In recent months, at least six women have come forward with stories of allegedly abusive relationships with Onision and his partner, YouTuber CoolGuyKai. Several women and former fans have come forward alleging that Onision and Kai befriended them online, then pressured them into inappropriate situations. Some, like Webb, allege that they were harassed online after their fallings out and that Onision posted their private information on his YouTube channel. A woman who asked to be referred to as Sarah alleges that she was manipulated into a relationship with Onision and Kai after they allowed her to move in with them at the age of 16.
YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Updated 8:51PM ET: To include comment from Onision.