What’s up?
It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and James Charles is speaking out after he
and many fellow social media stars were criticized for attending a big birthday party amid coronavirus
cases rising rapidly in Los Angeles.
So just a quick little friendly reminder in case everyone forgot, we are still in the
middle of a pandemic!
Just because it’s sunny outside or it’s your birthday or you got some cute new summer
clothes doesn’t mean you should be gathering in large groups, especially without masks
on.
And this is particularly important if you’re in some of the cities and states that are
being heavily impacted by new cases right now, which includes Los Angeles, California.
In case you missed it, last week Hype House member Larri Merritt turned 22 and Nikita
Dragun helped pull off a huge birthday celebration!
And instead of doing a zoom happy hour, drive by parade, or outdoor park gathering like
most people have been doing to celebrate their birthdays for the past few months, Nikita
Dragun threw him a massive party at a Hollywood Hills mansion.
Other influencers in attendance included James Charles, Tana Mongeau, Charli and Dixie D'Amelio,
Emma Chamberlain, and more.
Nikita and others have also continued to post photos and videos from the event even after
fans started calling them out.
Fans were writing things like “bruh- i love larray but wtf. so many of us are doing our
part and are wearing masks, social distancing, etc.
Many of us had to celebrate our birthday lowkey and had to sacrifice so much in this time.
why can't "celebrities & influencers" do the same as us? is it that hard?”
And eventually fellow social media star Tyler Oakley got involved tweeting saying quote,
“If your favorite influencers are at huge house parties during a pandemic (& are dumb
enough to post it on social media)... they are bad influences.
unfollow them.”
But he didn’t stop there, Tyler went on calling out the influencers by name tweeting
saying quote, “hi @jamescharles @NikitaDragun @tanamongeau @larrayxo @charlidamelio @dixiedamelio
& any others who have been partying in large groups - please consider social distancing,
mask wearing, & using your huge platforms to encourage responsibility during a worldwide
pandemic.”
Larray has since responded to Tyler’s tweet saying quote, “I understand 100% where ur
coming from & it was a dumb thing to do.
I will do better & will actually take this shit seriously.
appreciate you tyler much love.”
And now James Charles has spoken out on the situation and his attendance at the birthday
party.
In his recent YouTube video titled “A Day In The Life with James Charles” he goes
through his day leading up to Larray’s birthday party.
“To end off the day, later on tonight is my friend Larray’s birthday party which
I’m very very excited for.
Let me unpause you guys.
So yeah that is pretty much what my day is going to look like today.
I’m really excited to take you guys along with me.”
In the vlog, James takes fans along to meetings, FaceTimes with friends, gets ready for photos
and Tik Toks, and even drives to the birthday party.
“Larray’s party starts in approximately one hour but it is all the way in Hollywood
but we’re going to be running fashionably late because we currently on the way to a
lovely dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, not sponsored.”
But when the time for the party footage came in James’ vlog he posted a statement instead
of videos from the party.
He wrote quote, “Hi sisters!
I decided to cut the party footage from the video.
Even though I have been wearing a mask in public and have tested negative multiple times,
going to a party during a pandemic was a selfish and stupid decision.
People’s safety and keeping COVID-19 contained is far more important than celebrating a friend's
birthday.”
James went on to say quote, “Unsafe partying is not something I want to promote to my audience
and I recognize that with my platform comes responsibility and I encourage you guys to
be smarter than I was.
Wear your masks and continue to social distance.
Love you”
And fans have had mixed reactions to James’ statement in his video.
Some people are still pretty disappointed with the situation like this person who wrote
quote, “you're lucky that you can be tested "multiple times."
Here in Nebraska, we aren't that lucky......”
Another person commented saying quote, “That “statement” honestly means nothing when
you still show footage of you not wearing a mask”
And others continued to warn James saying things like “Be careful going to parties..
It's so scary out there.”
But many of James’ fans came to his defense thanking him for addressing the party.
One person wrote quote, “the fact that james addressed the situation.
we stan.”
Another fan commented saying quote, “I love that you actually addressed what you could
have done wrong and tried to be better!
You've grown so much as a person and a creator you're allowing your personality to show and
being genuine which makes your content so enjoyable to watch!”
And this person added quote, “Thank you for taking responsibility and recognizing
how you affect so many people, especially younger ones.”
And all we can say at this point is hopefully everyone who was at the party has learned
from this and will do better going forward!
We’re all in this together.
If you want more info on this party and what fans had to say about it, click right over
here for another Clevver video.
Also, let us know down in the comments what you think about James’ statement and if
you think he did the right thing by cutting the footage from his vlog.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, bye guys!