The feud between beauty vloggers James Charles and Tati Westbrook caused such a stir that
millions of subscribers seemingly jumped ship from one to the other.
So what exactly happened?
Here are the deets on the drama between these YouTube stars.
Sliding into DMs
To fully grasp the scope of the Westbrook and Charles drama, you have to first understand
how their friendship started.
According to Life & Style, Charles slid into the beauty vlogger's DMs in 2016 after his
ultra-glam high school yearbook photos went viral.
She had been vlogging for nearly a decade, and he was still green to the world of YouTube.
He reportedly told Westbrook that she was his inspiration and, in turn, she decided
to help him grow a following.
She spent the next three years as Charles' mentor.
By 2017, the pair were close enough that Westbrook not only invited Charles to her wedding, but
she trusted him to do her bridal makeup, which is a huge deal even for brides who don't have
millions of followers!
Westbrook reportedly paid for Charles' trip because he was a broke teenager, and by 2018,
she was using her Halo Beauty launch party to shout out her pal.
In turn, he posted an Instagram story showing off a bottle of her vitamins.
At this point, it seemed like their relationship was reciprocal, even if Westbrook would later
have regrets.
"It's sad to think that I will never be able to watch my wedding video without seeing his
face and thinking of him and thinking about all of the things I hoped our relationship
would be."
Don't swipe up
Westbrook and Charles' feud sparked in the most Instagram way possible, with an argument
about tiny gummy bear vitamins.
Of course, since this is the world of YouTube influencers, the whole thing went down at
Coachella.
On April 22nd, 2019, Charles posted an Instagram story promoting SugarBearHair, and Westbrook
was reportedly livid.
The brand is a direct competitor of Westbrook's supplement line Halo Beauty, which Charles
allegedly felt uncomfortable promoting to his young followers, according to Page Six.
Westbrook uploaded a teary-eyed story as a response and claimed everybody, quote, "uses
who they need to use."
Not long after, Charles publicly apologized via Instagram.
He claimed SugarBearHair helped him with security at the festival when the crowd around him
became unsafe.
He reportedly didn't make any money off of the post and still took Westbrook's vitamins
daily.
In the post, he wrote, in part,
"I did not think about the competition.
I've supported Tati both online and off like she has done for me and am devastated that
I hurt someone that I truly love and have endless respect for."
Bye, Sister
Charles' initial apology apparently wasn't enough for Westbrook.
In early May 2019, the star posted a scathing, 43-minute YouTube video titled "BYE SISTER"
which slammed Charles for a large number of alleged indiscretions, including the gummy
bear incident.
Westbrook claimed she felt used by Charles because her husband helped mentor and negotiate
millions of dollars worth of deals for him, without taking a dime.
She also promoted the influencer's makeup palette and Morphe discount code on her channel,
and was shocked that Charles claimed she was, quote, "loving the drama because it's improving
sales."
"I don't want to be friends with you, I don't want to be associated with you, and I need
to say that very publicly so that this chapter can just be closed."
Over 40 million people watched Westbrook's "BYE SISTER" video before it was scrubbed
from her channel.
But nothing on the Internet ever dies.
Ruining a reputation
Westbrook's "BYE SISTER" video was a lot more salacious than any gripe about hair vitamins
or unreciprocated favors.
The beauty guru made the claim that Charles had, quote, "tried to trick a straight man
into thinking he's gay," and it made her "want to vomit" that he would manipulate someone
in that way.
At this point in the feud, no one was exactly sure who Westbrook was referring to, but the
internet oozed with speculation.
Vox theorized that Westbrook was referencing a model named Gage Gomez, since the pair reportedly
attended Coachella together.
Not long after the event, Charles tweeted, then deleted, about an unnamed boy who had,
quote, "played [him for] months."
He called the guy a "disgusting con artist."
Gomez, who inferred that Charles deleted the tweet because it was both about him and untrue,
posted a video outlining his experience with the YouTube star.
"So he then unblocked me and continued to speculate that he didn't know or that he forgot
that I told him that I was straight in the beginning."
Charles was allegedly sexually aggressive at Coachella, despite Gomez's repeated rejections.
Gomez claimed that Charles even got emotional in an attempt to manipulate him into hooking
up.
"Even though I was telling him the whole time I wasn't into, I guess you could say, experimenting
at that time."
Charles has also apologized for publicly hitting on Shawn Mendes, but neither of these events
took place at Westbrook's birthday dinner, like the incident she cited in her video.
The apology video
As two of the most popular beauty vloggers on YouTube, it's not really surprising that
Westbrook's takedown video about Charles would go viral almost instantly.
According to Newsweek, Charles subsequently lost about three million subscribers, including
celebs like Kylie Jenner and Ariana Grande, dipping from over 16.5 million subscribers
to around 13.8 million.
Although the drop was so enormous there were channels live-tracking his downfall, as of
June 2019, his subscriber count recovered and was back up to over 15 million.
Westbrook, on the other hand, essentially doubled her subscriber count, jumping from
5.9 million to over 10 million subscribers.
It didn't take long for Charles to post an initial apology video titled "tati."
The star gave us eight, make-up free minutes of holding back tears.
He apologized to Westbrook and her husband, the influencers he spoke poorly about on social
media, and for his interactions with other men.
As far as public apologies go, it was pretty standard.
He went on to say that in the past he's handled these situations immaturely.
"I've gone off and tried to pull receipts or facts or screenshots, and play the victim."
But he insisted he wouldn't do that this time, he just wanted to apologize.
The video racked up more than 56 million views before it was removed from his channel.
Jeffree and Tati
Charles and Westbrook weren't alone in their feud.
Makeup mogul and former Myspace personality Jeffree Star, who did a video with the pair
on Charles' channel in January 2019, swooped in to take Westbrook's side.
According to Seventeen, Star was at the birthday dinner where Charles allegedly hit on a waiter
who Westbrook claimed was straight.
In a now-deleted tweet, the makeup mogul also made the shocking claim that his boyfriend
allegedly banned Charles from visiting their home, saying, in part,
"There's a reason why I haven't seen him since [Westbrook's] birthday in February.
He is a danger to society.
Everything Tati said is 100% true."
Shock of the century, it wasn't 100% true.
Though Star didn't go into why Charles was allegedly banned from his house, Charles later
revealed in another video that Star accused him of pressuring his boyfriend's younger
brother, Zach, into sending Snapchat photos.
According to Charles, he and Zach sent about 10 selfies to each other in a harmless exchange.
"He was super super sweet but it was very clear to me that he was not actually interested,
and the conversation stopped before anything could even get remotely flirty at all."
Charles later called out Star for harassing his brother on Twitter, and things got even
more messy.
Wrecking Westbrook
If you thought that 8-minute apology video was the last you would hear from James Charles,
you don't know anything about YouTubers.
In a bombshell 41-minute video titled "No More Lies," the star claimed he wasn't erasing
the sentiment of his first apology, however, his answer to "BYE SISTER" was essentially
a point-by-point rebuttal of Westbrook's video and Star's public and private claims.
Plus, Charles kept the receipts, text message screenshots, like a good social media star.
In the video, Charles denied that his SugarBearHair post was premeditated and slammed Westbrook's
manipulation allegations.
He claimed that on the night of Westbrook's birthday dinner, the waiter he allegedly hit
on, named Sam Cooke, was the one who actually initiated their conversation.
Cooke even told Charles he was bisexual, and the star invited him back to his hotel room
but said he, quote, "didn't have to do anything."
Charles also accused Cooke of pretending to be gay in order to get him on the phone and,
quote, "illegally record the conversation" for a video, which was then taken out of context.
"I have never and will never use my fame, money, or power to manipulate or get any sexual
actions."
Charles called that type of behavior "disgusting" and said it blew his mind that Tati would
accuse him of such a thing.
According to Newsweek, Westbrook lost around 200,000 subscribers after Charles posted "No
More Lies."
Star walking back
In this convoluted YouTube beauty feud, it seems there are no winners.
Jeffree Star, who for some reason involved himself in the drama, eventually walked back
on his comments after Charles posted his second, receipt-filled video.
Again, Tati's story wasn't exactly 100% true, nor was it 100% false.
In a video titled "Never Doing This Again," the former Myspace personality apologized
for inserting himself into the situation.
Star admitted the accusations he made were based on rumors, and he owned up to sending
Charles vicious text messages and, quote, "mishandling" their friendship.
"Even if we weren't close friends anymore, I should have handled it way differently.
I will never handle a situation like this again."
The only people losing out on Star's apology were the tabloids waiting for all the receipts
he promised to deliver, but cheers to a YouTube star who can admit he's done wrong, even with
the looming fear of cancellation.
Cancelling a tour
Before Westbrook decided to throw down over gummy vitamins, Charles was already facing
controversy for his unusually elaborate national tour.
According to Seventeen, the teenage YouTube star announced his Sisters Tour in late April
with plans to hit around 25 different cities in the United States, but his ticket prices
where so outrageous that he faced major backlash.
You may wonder what a YouTuber actually does on tour, anyway.
Apparently, it's not really a whole lot.
Vox reported that Charles planned to sing and conduct meet-and-greets, but that's about
it.
Tickets ran as high as $500, but the star bumped the price of VIP spots down to $250
after being ridiculed for the crazy price tag for simply meeting him.
Ultimately, Charles ended up canceling his tour in the wake of the Westbrook drama even
though it was almost entirely sold out.
"I made the decision to pull the tour.
This was 100% my decision, okay?
None of the venues pulled out, none of the brands that were going to be sponsoring it
pulled out."
Charles also wanted to get ahead of any reports with false claims about why the tour wasn't
happening.
"So the Sisters Tour is not being 'canceled' because I was 'canceled'.
So Let's make that clear."
Calling a truce
As much as the drama queens in all of us wants to see clap back video after clap back video,
all good YouTube feuds must come to an end.
As such, Westbrook, Charles, and Star decided to wave their glowing white highlighter palettes
and call a ceasefire.
Two days after Westbrook posted her "Bye Sister" video, she said "bye sister" to the drama.
The beauty guru wrote a lengthy Twitter post claiming that she had been talking to Charles,
quote, "through an intermediary," and that she wouldn't publicly comment on the situation
any longer.
Of course, that wasn't the final goodbye.
According to Mashable, Westbrook also posted a now-deleted follow-up video where she claimed
she didn't think feuding with one of the largest beauty vloggers on YouTube would become national
news.
Regardless, Charles responded to Westbrook's apology and Star's "Never Doing This Again"
video.
He tweeted that he was, quote, "on board to move on," and thus the biggest drama YouTube
has seen came to a close.
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