YouTube star James Charles shot to fame when he was just a senior in high school,
and it wasn't long before he found himself knee-deep in controversy.
Let's dive inside the downfall of James Charles.
In February 2017, just months after going viral for his iconic senior photos and for
being named CoverGirl's first CoverBoy, Charles experienced major backlash for the first time.
In a now-deleted tweet, Charles made an insensitive joke about getting the Ebola virus by
visiting South Africa. He quoted a conversation between himself and a friend, writing,
"'I can't believe we're going to Africa today OMG what if we get Ebola.'
'James we're fine we could've gotten it at chipotle last year.'"
Charles tried to defend his tweet at first, and according to Affinity Magazine,
he blocked other Twitter users who called his post insensitive.
A few hours later, Charles deleted the tweet and issued an apology. He admitted
that he made a mistake, but then sparked more controversy by referring to Africa as a country,
not a continent. In a statement provided to The Cut, CoverGirl said,
"James Charles' tweet does not represent CoverGirl's perspective.
We agree his statements were inappropriate but appreciate that he has issued an apology.
We are an inclusive brand and respect all people and cultures."
Not long after his first social media scandal,
rising star Charles started some online drama with several celebrities,
including actor Finn Wolfhard. When Charles was in the theater seeing Wolfhard's movie
"It," Charles tweeted saying that the movie was "awful" only five minutes in. Wolfhard caught
wind of Charles' tweets and replied to him, asking why Charles was on his phone in the movie theater.
While Charles wrote he was, quote, "honored" Wolfhard tweeted at him, he went on and apologized
in a video. And just to add to the mayhem, one month later, Charles did an "It Pennywise Glam
Halloween Makeup Tutorial," which he admitted was ironic, given his feelings about the movie.
Wolfhard hasn't been the only star who's had an issue with Charles. In March 2018, the beauty
influencer uploaded a video where he told fellow YouTubers Shane Dawson and Ryland Adams that
Ariana Grande was the rudest celebrity he's met, claiming to have had a terrible experience with
her. As Billboard noted, Grande unfollowed the vlogger after his tweet about Africa and Ebola.
"And I was like what the heck, so I checked and she did actually unfollow me,
literally three hours after she followed me."
According to Charles, when he asked her why she did this, she told him,
"Hey babe, I saw a lot of angry tweets from my fans and I would never want to disappoint them,
so I unfollowed."
"It just really sucked that, like, I was literally getting bullied by her fans,
and instead of, like, just ignoring it and, like, building a friendship,
she literally listened to them and unfollowed, saying, like, 'That's OK to do.'"
In 2018, Charles landed a major collaboration deal with makeup powerhouse brand Morphe. They
created the "James Charles Palette," a collection of 39 shades that was
supposed to help fellow makeup lovers, quote, "unleash their inner artist." Drama ensued.
After Charles released a demonstration, some Twitter users suspected he faked the
swatches in the clip. When one person asked if he "pre-swatched" the shadow, he replied,
"Yes, a few shades I layered twice because the first swatch wasn't good
or because I had to re- say my sentence and wasn't going to continue washing my arm,
or that would REALLY mess them up. Not hiding anything."
This was only the tip of the iceberg. According to Girlfriend,
one Twitter user uploaded a now-deleted video where she said some of the colors stained eyelids
and caused hives. In an effort to defend the palette, Charles replied,
"Most pinks, purples, & reds all stain certain skin types. This is common knowledge to all
makeup lovers. You accusing me of lying to fans & not caring about people is a ridiculous cry
for attention. If you have hives, consult your dermatologist, not me for likes on Twitter."
The two had a heated back and forth on Twitter which ended
with Charles blocking — then unblocking — the fan.
In March 2019, fans on Reddit were accusing Charles of "faking his skill level" by editing
his photos to the point where they were, quote, "suspiciously flawless." People pointed to his
makeup looks from his YouTube videos and posted them next to his edited Instagram content.
While the viral Reddit post calling Charles out addressed the fact that he uses apps
like FaceTune and Photoshop, the Redditor claimed that this is different. They wrote,
"This isn't like, making his nose skinnier or blurring a few pores. [...] This essentially
is faking his skill level. It's like someone hand-drawing a piece of art,
but half of it was mirrored, so it looks perfect without any flaws, and the artist claiming it
was not altered in any way and still claiming the ENTIRE thing is completely done by hand."
As others chimed in, some even came to Charles' defense,
but just wished he was honest. One Reddit user wrote,
"See if he was like 'I'm pretty awesome at makeup AND ALSO
my photoshop skills are great!' that would be fine, in my opinion? I mean,
he's fantastic at photoshop, obviously. [...] Just be transparent."
Charles didn't appear to directly address the drama,
but around the same time, he did tweet a throwback photo and write,
"Thank god for braces, scissors, better taste in clothing,
lip filler, makeup, & a little facetune."
Fans of style know that the Met Gala is the Super Bowl of the fashion world, as it's an excuse for
the biggest celebs and the biggest designers to team up to create show-stopping looks. The event
is invite-only and the guest list is mostly made up of celebs from the tippity top of the A-list,
so it was a huge deal when influencers like Charles were asked to come in 2019.
After attending his first Met Ball, Charles posted a photo
from the event and thanked both YouTube and Alexander Wang for inviting him. He wrote,
"Being invited to such an important event like the ball is such an honor and a step forward in the
right direction for influencer representation in the media and I am so excited to be a catalyst."
This caption did not sit well with everyone. One person tweeted,
"If you don't care about influencer representation in the media
then your politics are not intersectional!!!"
Another person wrote,
"Ah, yes. the historically oppressed and marginalized class, 'influencers.'"
Others called Charles out for belittling actual marginalized groups with this caption,
but as of June 2021, the photo is still up with the same caption on his Instagram page.
In May 2019, fellow beauty guru and Charles' former mentor, Tati Westbrook,
uploaded a 43-minute long YouTube video called "Bye Sister." In the video Westbrook
publicly ended her friendship with Charles for a variety of reasons,
one of which being his partnership with Sugar Bear Hair — a competitor to her Halo Beauty
brand. She made a variety of accusations and said Charles changed due to, quote,
"fame, power, and a fat bank account." She also called him a "bad role model"
and alleged that Charles used his fame to have inappropriate conversations with underage boys.
Charles' career took a major hit from this video. He lost millions of followers,
fans destroyed his merchandise, and many other YouTubers got involved. Eventually,
Charles released his own video sharing his side of the story called "No More Lies," in which he said
he managed to build his career back up and shared how the scandal took a toll on his mental health.
In another video, Westbrook claimed fellow YouTubers Shane Dawson and
Jeffree Star manipulated her into sharing her now-deleted "Bye Sister" video. Though
in 2021, after Charles admitted to having inappropriate conversations with minors,
some people wondered if Westbrook's original allegations were accurate.
In July 2020, as California was seeing record high cases of the COVID-19 virus,
Charles attended a birthday party for a fellow influencer.
Other internet stars were also in attendance at the birthday bash. They immediately
faced backlash from fans as well as other influencers, like Tyler Oakley, who tweeted,
"Hi @jamescharles [...] & 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."
Charles later apologized in his vlog from the day of the party.
He decided to omit footage from the party to help set a better example. He said,
"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."
In August 2020, Charles took to Twitter to voice his frustrations regarding some
celebrity cosmetics lines, going so far as to say,
"People who do not wear makeup should not be coming out with makeup brands."
Some assumed Charles was talking about Alicia Keys, a star who famously stopped wearing
makeup and was set to launch a lifestyle beauty brand at the time. Charles eventually deleted
the tweet and the following day, he tweeted a lengthy apology to Keys in which he said he was,
quote, "childish" to indirectly tweet about her and that he is, "not the gatekeeper of makeup."
That same month, Charles took to his Instagram stories to go off about receiving a PR box full
of empty beauty products from another celebrity who he said had, quote, "no
business" creating a makeup line. Charles didn't specifically name Lauren Conrad during this rant,
but he did hold up her products where fans could clearly see the label with her brand name.
Charles later took to his Instagram stories again to issue an apology. He said,
"My stories talking about the products were supposed to be
funny but they just came across nasty because I was so upset."
James and Conrad seemingly reconciled and appeared together in fellow beauty personality
Nikkie-tutorials YouTube video in November 2020.
In February 2021, Charles faced allegations of grooming from a 16-year-old fan. In a statement,
the vlogger said the grooming accusations were, quote, "completely false," but it wasn't long
before more minors accused Charles of flirting with them. Some even shared their experiences
and conversations with Charles on Twitter and TikTok. In April 2021, Charles addressed the
allegations In a YouTube video titled "holding myself accountable." He said,
"[I] was told they were 18, believed them, engaged in a flirty conversation, and then later on, found
out they were actually 16. Upon finding out, I was immediately embarrassed and blocked both people."
He acknowledged that the interactions, quote, "should've never happened," adding,
"There is no excuse for it. There is no if, ands, or buts, and I take full responsibility for that."
He apologized for his behavior and admitted that it was, quote,
"desperation" that got himself into this situation in the first place.
Following the allegations, Charles' professional life went through some changes.
Morphe announced on Twitter that the company had severed ties from the influencer,
and Variety reported he would no longer be the host of YouTube TV series "Instant Influencer."
Charles landed in another major scandal in 2021. He got tied up in legal drama with one
of his former employees over allegations of "wrongful termination" and "mistreatment,"
according to Dexerto. While Charles was taking a social media hiatus to, quote,
"reflect" and "get help" after the grooming allegations came to light, court documents
showed that he was being sued by Kelly Rocklein who worked as his video editor and producer.
In the docs, Rocklein alleged that she was working
in two different job roles for Charles, which left her working:
"12 hours a day, almost seven days a week,
without any overtime pay and despite being promised a raise that never came to fruition."
Charles hopped back on social media to address the legal matter.
In a video that went up on Twitter in May 2021, he said,
"The fact that this is even attempting to become a narrative makes me feel like sick to my stomach
because it is wildly, wildly, untrue and I am so grateful for the people around me."
"Don't worry, this is not my return to social media, but unfortunately I am logging in today
because I feel as though I am being cornered and have to make yet another public statement."
In the clip, he shared his side of the story, noting that he felt like he was, quote,
"being blackmailed." After he released this video,
Rocklein revealed on Twitter that she'd received violent threats from some of his fans.
Despite all of this controversy, Charles' friend Noah Beck told The
Hollywood Fix that James will definitely be back.
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