Jack Maynard: YouTube star apologises for old rape tweet

'I was young, naive and stupid but as I said previously, age is no excuse,' says the social media star

The vlogger, who is now 23, says there is no excuse for the language he used

YouTube star Jack Maynard has been forced to apologise after an old tweet surfaced in which he joked about rape.

Maynard, who is the brother of singer Conor Maynard, recently left I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here after offensive tweets he posted between 2011 and 2013 emerged.

The historic posts obtained by The Sun led to the well-known vlogger being accused of racism and homophobia.

The new tweet, posted when Maynard was 16, said: “If you get me to 15000 followers by tomorrow, I will kiss you …. Most likely rape you though.”

Another tweet from the same year saw him reply to a fan: "I raped her ... ha ha".

Both the new tweets were also obtained by the tabloid.

The vlogger, who is now 23, apologised for the newly surfaced remarks and said there was no excuse for the language he used.

“I have taken some time to reflect on the comments, tweets and ultimately my behaviour in the past, including a tweet sent in 2011 that is the subject of a story today,” Maynard wrote on Twitter.

“I was young, naive and stupid – but as I said previously, age is no excuse. My immaturity meant that I didn't stop for a second to think whether these comments would hurt or harm anyone - something I have learnt is entirely wrong.”

He added: “If I had just thought for a moment, about how stupid they were, I would never have sent them. Nothing can justify the language I used, there is no defence – I am truly sorry. My childish attitude back then is not a representation of my thoughts and feelings now.

“I take full responsibility and regret my mistakes. As an adult, I understand the effect my words have on people, whether I have a big or small platform to speak from. Again, I am so sorry to anyone I have offended or disappointed.”

After the first tweets emerged. Maynard's publicist said he would leave the ITV show after just two days so he would have the chance to defend himself against the allegations.

After returning to London he apologised for the tweets in a YouTube video.

"The least you deserved was for me to come home and sit down and talk to you and explain everything that has been going on,” he said.

"I'm so sorry to anyone that I offended, anyone that I upset, anyone I made feel uncomfortable. Like a lot of you growing up I was all over social media, my entire life is on social media, I've grown an amazing following.

"Social media has led to be my entire job, my work is this online and everything that comes with it and I've messed up, I've been really stupid in the past. I've tweeted some bad things, some horrible things, some pretty disgusting things that I'm just ashamed of.”

He added that growing up on social media was difficult and encouraged others not to make the “same mistake” as him. He advised people not to put anything online that they would not say to their mother.

"I never wanted to feel like I've let you guys down so much, with something so careless and inconsiderate to other people," he said. "I was young I was careless, I just wasn't thinking, this was back when I had just left school and I didn't know what I was doing.”