The Football Association has axed a healthy eating initiative featuring England players alongside rapper and YouTuber Yung Filly after he was charged with rape.
Yung Filly, real name Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, had featured in videos for a “Freestyle Cooking” series which also features Bukayo Saka, Ezri Konsa and Jarrod Bowen.
However, the M&S Food-partnered programmes featuring him on the FA’s YouTube channel were quickly deleted as it emerged he had been arrested and then charged with rape in Australia overnight.
He has since appeared in court in Perth charged with four counts of sexual penetration without consent, three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of impeding a person’s normal breathing. It is alleged he brought a woman in her twenties back to his hotel room after he had performed at the nightclub Bar1 in Perth.
Filly previously fronted the BBC’s Hot Property and Yung Filly’s Celeb Lock-In. He boasts 3.2 million followers on Instagram, 3.2 million on TikTok and 1.8 million subscribers on YouTube.
Sources close to the FA underlined the governing body had moved to delete the videos with Yung Filly as it learned of his arrest. Only 24 hours earlier, in an announcement promoted in marketing media, the FA said it had chosen Yung Filly for the series to “encourage young people up and down the country to experiment with cooking healthy alternatives”.
The social media personality, who often collaborates with the YouTube collective Beta Squad, has also featured occasionally as a host on BBC Three TV programmes. He has also appeared in the UK on Soccer Aid on ITV and The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer on Channel 4.
“The Greater Game” campaign was launched with backing from England team sponsor M&S Food to promote healthy eating and “positively influence” children aged between 12 and 16.
The 29-year-old was charged on Thursday and has had his bail application approved. His representatives have been contacted for comment.
“This investigation is ongoing and detectives urge anyone with information relating to this matter, or any similar incidents, to call Crime Stoppers,” Western Australia Police said in a statement.