It’s no secret that 2021 has been a controversial year for James Charles. And it feels like
every week there are more damaging accusations against him. But were there warning signs
that his downfall would happen all along? Let’s get into it.
James Charles has basically been synonymous with controversy since he broke onto the scene.
Back in 2017, after being named Covergirl’s first Coverboy, James faced his first major
backlash after her made a joke about Ebola and Africa that did NOT sit well with fans.
Since then, James has gotten caught up in drama with everyone from fellow YouTubers
to celebs like Ariana Grande and Finn Wolfhard.
And we will never forget one of James’ biggest scandals to date from May 2019 when fellow
YouTuber Tati Westbrook publicly ended their friendship with her Bye Sister video.
But since the massive cancellation he faced from that video, James built his career back
up, despite continuing to face criticism along the way.
He took part in controversial challenges, got caught saying the N word while singing,
and attended large parties during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But none of that stopped him from continuing to produce content and gain millions of followers.
Things took a turn in 2021 though when James faced allegations of grooming from a 16 year
old fan.
In February, James vehemently denied these allegations saying the accusations were “completely
false.”
But it wasn’t long before more and more minors accused James of flirting with them
and having inappropriate conversations. At the time, Insider reported that multiple
boys who were seemingly under the age of 18 made social media posts alleging that James
quote, "solicited nude photographs from them, sent them explicit photos, or sent sexually
explicit messages."
This Twitter user responded to James’ post writing quote, “James we both know I blocked
you, you never asked for my age. After I told you I was 16 you proceeded to ask me for nudes
and said it didn’t matter. You called me hot and said ‘I wish the timeline could
speed up so you can be 18.’”
And other minors took to TikTok and shared their experiences and conversations with James
on the platform.
Eventually, by April 2021, James addressed the allegations and admitted his wrongdoing.
“These conversations should’ve never happened, point blank period. There is no excuse for
it. There is no if, ands, or buts, and I take full responsibility for that. I trusted the
information that was given to me, rather than the information I could have and should have
gotten myself.”
He apologized for his behavior and admitted how he got himself into this situation in
the first place.
“It sucks and it is ridiculously embarrassing to admit this but I think I have to and that
is that I’m desperate.”
And in his apology video James claimed he didn’t want to be in a relationship with
a younger person, but this clip from a previous interview went viral where James contradicted
himself.
“I’m not physically attracted to older guys which sucks. Like I would date like that
absolute youngest like 18 or 19 that looks a little bit older.”
And others pointed out that Tati Westbrook had actually brought up James having inappropriate
conversations with minors in her original Bye Sister video, but when the internet turned
back onto James’ side, the behavior continued.
While everyone was getting dragged for calling James out for said behavior said behavior
was being continued for two years.”
So should James’ fans and his brand partners have seen this coming all along? Well,
regardless, major brands like Morphe started to drop James as these allegations continued
to emerge.
And he also was removed from his role as the host and executive producer of his YouTube
series Instant Influencer.
In mid-April, James then released another statement saying he'd be taking legal action
against people who have "spread misinformation,” because not everyone who was coming forward
with allegations was telling the truth.
James confirmed that some of the accusations against him were true in his video, but one
15 year old TikToker came forward and said he had fabricated the allegations he made
about James sending him inappropriate messages.
“I am coming on to apologize to absolutely everyone about the James Charles situation
messaging. It was fake and it was my stupid, stupid irresponsible idea to do that, to try
and ruin someone’s career”
The drama James has faced in 2021 hasn’t only had to do with this situation though.
He also is tied up in legal drama with one of his former employees over allegations of
“wrongful termination” and “mistreatment.”
James had remained quiet on social media for a couple months following the grooming allegations
as he said he was taking time to “reflect” and “get help.”
But he broke his silence after it was revealed that James was being sued by his former employee
Kelly Rocklein who worked as his video editor and producer.
In the court docs, Kelly alleged that she was working in two different job roles for
James, which left her working 12 hours a day, almost 7 days a week, without any overtime
pay and despite being promised a raise that never came to fruition.
James took to social media to deny these allegations
“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.”
We’re not going to get into all the other details of this lawsuit because it’s very
complex and detailed, but the lawsuit is available online if you’re interested in reading more
about it.
But since James shared his video defending himself, Kelly revealed that she’s been
receiving death threats from some of James’ fans.
In that same video where James discussed the situation with Kelly, he also addressed a
recent racist tweet that appeared on his old Twitter account.
A fan on TikTok had uncovered James’ old account JamessCharless with two S’s and
last fall, the account had one random tweet for the first time in years that included
a racial slur directed towards Jeffree Star.
“This is just perfect convenient timing considering this past weekend my old Twitter
account which I have not accessed since 2016 and only has 1 tweet I guess was hacked last
year and the hacker publicly tweeted someone the ‘N’ word, and people actually thought
that it was me.”
James denied ever tweeting this and hasn’t spoken out again since addressing both this
scandal and Kelly’s lawsuit in that one video.
But according to some of James’ friends like Noah Beck… despite all of this year’s
drama, he’s still planning on making a come back.
“Do you think we’ll see a return? Definitely, definitely, he’s James Charles he’ll be
back.”
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if James makes a return to his YouTube channel
and social platforms in 2021 after a very controversial start to the year.
We will definitely keep you guys posted if we hear anything else about James’ potential
comeback.
But for now, if you want more on James Charles click right over here for another Clevver
News video.
Then hop to the comments and let me know what you think of all the controversy surrounding
James and if you think he’ll be making a comeback soon.
As always, I’m your host Renee Ariel, you can follow me on socials @ReneeAriel and I’ll
see ya next time!