Yung Filly #

Introduction #

Yung Filly, real name Andres Felipe Valencia Barrientos, is a British-Colombian rapper, YouTuber and presenter who was one of the UK’s biggest young online personalities before he was charged in October 2024 with sexual offences over an incident in Perth, Australia. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. After his employers tore up deals and cancelled shows during the proceedings, a Western Australia jury in July 2026 acquitted him on several counts while leaving three rape counts unresolved on hung-jury verdicts, with prosecutors deciding whether to seek a retrial.

Background Information #

Born in Colombia and raised in the UK, Barrientos, 30, built a multi-million-follower following as Yung Filly, known for his work with the YouTube collective Beta Squad. He had 1.8 million YouTube subscribers, three million followers on TikTok and 2.4 million on Instagram. Beyond YouTube, he presented BBC Three shows, appeared in Soccer Aid on ITV, and took part in The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer on Channel 4. He co-hosted the popular Chunkz and Filly Show podcast with fellow internet personality Chunkz.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Adjudicated vs. alleged. After a criminal trial, a Western Australia jury found Yung Filly not guilty of three counts of sexual penetration without consent, one count of assault occasioning bodily harm and one count of strangulation. A separate set of three rape counts resulted in hung-jury verdicts, on which no disposition has yet been made and a retrial is possible; those counts remain unproven allegations. His account of a consensual encounter was given in court and tested there.

The charges stemmed from 28 September 2024, when, after performing at the Bar1 nightclub in Perth, Barrientos allegedly brought a woman in her 20s back to his hotel room. He was arrested in Brisbane on a Tuesday, extradited to Perth the following day, and charged on a Thursday 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 or circulation by applying pressure to their neck. His bail application was approved.

At trial, Barrientos told the court he had "fancied" the woman when they met at the concert venue and that "the vibes were good" when they arrived at his hotel. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, accused him of biting, bruising and trying to choke her, and said she told him to stop after what began as consensual sex. Photos of bruises and bite marks on her face and neck were shown in court. Barrientos denied she had repeatedly asked him to stop, while acknowledging he bit her several times, explaining it as a "love bite." In closing arguments prosecutor Danielle Clarke called him an "entitled" man with a "moderate degree of fame" who had violated the fan "in the most intrusive way possible"; his defence argued the accuser’s evidence contained "inconsistencies, embellishments and outright lies."

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The charges triggered immediate commercial fallout before the trial began. The first live performance of the Chunkz and Filly Show podcast, scheduled for 18 October 2024 in east London, was cancelled, with ticket holders refunded automatically. Upload Productions, which produced the podcast, said, "In the commercial areas of business where we have responsibility, we have paused working with our client." The Football Association cancelled an online cookery series Barrientos was reported to star in alongside England footballers, in collaboration with M&S Food. FootAsylum severed ties with him, suspending its contract with immediate effect after he regularly appeared in its YouTube series Does the Shoe Fit?

Current Status #

On 31 July 2026 a jury in Western Australia found Barrientos not guilty of the three counts of sexual penetration without consent, and also not guilty of one count of assault occasioning bodily harm and of strangulation. He cried when the verdicts were read out, local media reported. He remained on bail until 21 August, when the court was due to decide his sentencing date in relation to any outstanding matter, and prosecutors said they would decide on next steps for the three hung-jury rape counts — whether to press ahead or drop them.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Even before the trial, the mere fact of the charges had upended Barrientos’ career: BBC Three presenting work stopped, the podcast’s live show was cancelled, the FA cookery series was dropped and a major retail sponsor suspended its contract. He was on bail for the period and permitted to fly home to the UK for four months in September 2025 before returning to Australia for trial. With acquittals on several counts but three rape counts still hanging, the case has left his once-dominant platform in limbo: the verdicts clear part of the record, while the unresolved counts mean his commercial and public standing remain uncertain pending the prosecutors’ decision on a retrial.