Life in the public eye can be difficult, and no one knows that better than YouTube's biggest
stars.
When things go wrong, relationships break up, or friendships break down, there's seemingly
only one place for the beef to play out, on the internet.
Here are the biggest feuds to rock YouTube.
James Charles vs. Tati Westbrook
"Hey guys welcome to today's video."
Makeup artist and YouTuber Tati Westbrook appeared to sever ties with her former friend
and protégé, James Charles, in her "Bye Sister" video in May 2019.
While their feud began weeks earlier when Charles promoted the SugarBearHair gummy vitamin
brand on Instagram, in direct rivalry with Westbrook's own Halo Beauty line, Westbrook
made several allegations about Charles' behavior, including claims that he'd quote, "tried to
trick a straight man into thinking he's gay."
As a result, Charles lost nearly three million YouTube subscribers, dropping from more than
16.5 million to about 13.8 million.
After deleting his initial apology video, Charles rebutted Westbrook's allegations in
a clip called "No More Lies."
As of mid 2019, his YouTube subscriber count is back up to well over 15.7 million, suggesting
that he gained most of his fans back after their feud simmered down.
Jake Paul vs. Alissa Violet
Anyone who's ever dated a colleague knows that things can get messy if the relationship
doesn't work out.
And unfortunately, YouTubers Jake Paul and Alissa Violet are prime examples of this.
"YouTube, what is up?"
When the two moved in together with members of "Team 10," fans thought that Paul and Violet's
relationship was going great.
However, their public falling-out began when Violet suggested things were on a downward
spiral in February 2017.
She tweeted:
"Jake rhymes with snake!…It f---ing sucks being so emotionally damaged by a person who
you thought would always be there for you."
"I just don't understand how someone could do that to someone."
According to Seventeen, things quickly escalated when Violet claimed she was being thrown out
of the house, in a since-deleted YouTube video.
After Paul alleged in a deleted tweet that she'd cheated on him, Violet refuted the claim,
tweeting:
"I did not cheat.
Jalissa was never real.
Jake had girl after girl over every other night…I have cried myself to sleep almost
every single night, living in this house."
RIP love.
Jeffree Star vs. Kat Von D
When Kat Von D accused Jeffree Star of stealing makeup artwork from her friend, these once-close
beauty artists appeared to fall out for good.
In 2016, Von D publicly severed ties with Star in a since-deleted Instagram post, which
read, via Cosmo,
"After years of making excuses for, and rationalizing Jeffree's inappropriate behaviour (including
promoting drug use, racism, and bullying) I can no longer hold my tongue after recent
events."
She later explained in a YouTube video, her decision to…
"...distance myself, actually, disassociate myself completely from him and his makeup
line altogether."
Von D added,
"The way that Jeffree chooses to live his life and treat other people is not something
that I personally agree with."
While Star has since deleted most of his original social media responses to Von D, Cosmo reports
that the makeup mogul continued to throw some serious shade at his BFF-turned-rival.
As recently as December 2018, Star suggested that Von D's makeup line was going to be sold
exclusively at discount retailers.
And months earlier, he'd included her beauty line in his "FULL FACE OF BRANDS THAT HATE
ME" video.
"I don't know why she's still talking about me, so I thought, 'You know what, let me just
respond so I can stop getting a million tweets about it, 'cause it does get really old.'"
Basically, it doesn't seem like these two will be making up any time soon.
Matthew Santoro vs. Nicole Arbour
YouTube personality Matt Santoro made headlines in January 2016 when he alleged that he'd
been emotionally and physically abused in a relationship that had ended several months
prior.
According to the Independent, Santoro detailed the situation in a since-deleted video called
"My Abuse Story," claiming,
"I had a panic attack one night because I couldn't handle being on eggshells with this
person."
Alleging that he'd also been hit in the face by his unnamed ex, Santoro added,
"I left an event I was at and ended it with this person."
"The things that have happened to me, the mistakes I've made, why do I replay them over
and over in my head like they just happened."
While Santoro never mentioned ex-girlfriend Nicole Arbour by name, the controversial "Dear
Fat People" YouTuber responded with her own video, which was also later removed.
In addition to denying the claims, Arbour alleged that Santoro shared this alleged account
due to the attention she received over her viral fat-shaming video.
She said of their split,
"It was amicable at first, until my videos started doing well, and his feelings about
the breakup turned to anger, turned to a whole bunch of lies."
"Here comes all the life advice you need.
It's you.
All the s---, is your fault."
James Charles vs. Marlena Stell
James Charles' explosive feud with Tati wasn't the only time he played a role in a YouTube
altercation.
When fellow makeup artist Marlena Stell announced that she was collaborating on a new Netflix
documentary series about the beauty industry, in 2018, Charles took to Twitter to express
his dismay, writing in part,
"I posted about my documentary several months ago…Everything that I put my heart and love
and a ton of work into is always stolen by someone else I feel so defeated right now
it's insane."
"I don't want to bad mouth people even if they have done me wrong, and also I just don't
wanna be a dramatic person, I try not to, sometimes it's hard, I'm not gonna lie."
But Stell wasn't here for these claims of theft.
She tweeted:
"James Charles, I think it would be great to hear about your input from an influencer
side as well!
I didn't approach Netflix, they approached me and want to understand everything about
the beauty industry.
Nothing drama related.
DM me privately if you would like."
Making clear that the series would cover all aspects of the beauty industry, not just beauty
influencers, she added,
"I'm sorry this feels like it was stolen but I did not seek out this opportunity.
When you've been in this industry for 10+ years then tell us about your 'experience.'"
"I started in 2008 back when it was literally you sat with, you know, a crappy camera and
a crappy light or you sat on your bedroom floor."
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