TikTok Star Benji Krol Was Hospitalized Amid Sexual Assault Accusations

TikTok star Benji Krol said he was hospitalized after he and his boyfriend, fellow TikTok star Jorge Garay, were accused of sexual assault. The social media influencer, who has more than 11 million followers on TikTok, said he participated in some of the accusations, but said there were a lot of untruths circulating.

Krol, 19, took to Twitter to post a lengthy statement with the Notes app. Krol attempted to take his own life, which is why he didn’t originally issue a swift response.

“The reason it’s taken so long is because I tried to kill myself. I was in the hospital and I’ve been recovering and trying to piece everything together,” he wrote. “I’m not trying to gain sympathy points from telling you this, I’m just giving the real explanation you all deserve for being late to respond. The reason for me trying was due to a lot of things building up and not directly because of this, it’s not the first time.”

Heavy reached out to Krol’s team and to Garay for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Krol’s last TikTok video, posted two days before his lengthy Twitter statement, has garnered more than 3 million views.

Krol Accused Garay of Pressuring Him

Krol said some of the sexual assault accusations against him were true. “From what you’ve heard about what we’ve done, I know for a fact part of it is true. The FaceTime,” he said.

According to Krol, he knew it was wrong and asked the survivor if they were OK with it. “I know was a mistake as it wasn’t their place to decide,” Krol wrote. “I know it was extremely wrong and in no way am I trying to excuse anything because it should have never occurred either way, and I apologized to the affected person after it happened and have felt [horrible] about it ever since.”

Krol said Garay pressured him to do the FaceTime. “I still take full responsibility for my own actions. I don’t even know the full story because Jorge knows everything else, but I have no way of finding the rest out. I wake up in the hospital alone and now knowing where he was,” the social media influencer said. “I currently only know he left me and I assume he went back to his own home which is hours away. He was only briefly spoken to me and has no intention of seeing me anytime soon.”

The Accuser Said Krol & Garay Manipulated Him

The Twitter account @defnoodles, which is run by Dennis Feitosa, posted screenshots where the accuser said Krol and Garay coerced and manipulated him in February 2020 through an anonymous account. The accuser shared screenshots of his FaceTime log and a text that claimed to show Krol’s reaction to an explicit text.

“Benji and JeyJey were one of the first gay couples I’d seen receive so much support. I looked up to them and took inspiration from their TikTok videos,” the accuser said. “However, their social media fame blinded me and I didn’t realize how they took advantage of me until talk about my experience with close friends in July and August 2020.”

The accuser said Krol and Garay used their fame and age to manipulate him. “They took advantage of my friendship, and exploited and coerced me, a minor, into doing what they wanted for sexual pleasure,” the person said. “They used their power as an influencer to manipulate me into doing what they wanted because our feelings were ‘mutual,’ ‘I knew what I was doing,’ and because ‘I wanted it.’ Looking back at all of this, it is very easy to be manipulated by someone older than you.”

The anonymous messages were first posted by the netizen on Saturday. The first thread of the tweet has since garnered nearly 30,000 likes and has been shared over 10,000 times. “Benji and Jeyhey groomed me, a 15-year-old minor,” the message said.

Krol Apologized to the Accuser & Said He Was Taking a Social Media Break

Toward the end of his statement, Krol issued an apology to the accuser.

“I’m extremely sorry to the victim and hope they are doing okay. I know none of this should have ever happened and that there’s nothing I can do to fix it but work on bettering myself and piecing everything together,” he wrote. “And I hope everyone can respect their privacy.”

Krol said he might not return to social media, but if he does, he’s going to take some time for himself. “When I return from my break, if I return, I will make sure it will be when I’m ready and able to talk about everything,” Krol wrote. “I never want anyone to experience something like this and I will be sure to show that I stand against it completely.”

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