On May 10, 2019, Youtube star Tati Westbrook with over 5.8 million subscribers published a 43 minute video titled, “BYE SISTER” causing all hell to break loose on Twitter because the video was addressed to Youtube star James Charles who currently has 13 million subscribers.
If you don’t know who James Charles is, he originally had 16 million subscribers, but with the recent scandal, he lost over 3 million subscribers and counting.
This all started in April when James Charles promoted a vitamin company called Sugar Bear after Coachella, which is Tati Westbrook’s rival to her vitamin company Halo. James Charles then told Tati Westbrook that he can’t promote her company because of his audience is too young. Tati Westbrook understood his concern and was okay with it, until he went behind her back to promote her rival company on his Instagram.
For Westbrook, this was the last straw.
Fast forward to May’s controversial video in which Westbrook addresses issues she had with Charles. Besides addressing the Sugar Bear issue, Tati Westbrook says that James Charles’ ego is so huge that he doesn’t care about their friendship because money comes first and he believes that he is bigger and better than everyone.
Above all, the one issue that shocked not only the beauty community but the entire Youtube community: James Charles was called out for being a sexual predator towards straight men.
James Charles has been known to hit on straight men on and off camera and tweets sexual statements about straight men. The reason why this is a shock is the evidence that not only Tati Westbrook states but what has surfaced after this scandal.
“Oh my god, you tried to trick a straight man into thinking he’s gay yet again and somehow you’re the victim. You know it’s really disgusting to manipulate someone’s sexuality especially when they are still emerging into adulthood…You are using your fame, your power, your money to play with people’s emotions, you’re threatening to ruin them, you’re threatening to embarrass them and you’re doing that to have them behave sexually in your favor.”
-Tati Westbrook
Since this scandal broke, celebrities and youtubers have unfollowed and disassociated themselves from James Charles. People such as Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Demi Lovato, Iggy Azalea, Shane Dawson, and Jeffree Star have all cut ties with Westbrook. Zara Larsson tweeted saying James Charles even tries to hit on her straight boyfriend.
Because of the over 3 million subscriber lost, James Charles lost over $60,000 in ad revenue for his videos. As of today, James Charles is continuously losing subscribers, followers, support, and more people are coming out with allegations of him sexually assaulting them or someone close to them. He has made an 8 minute apology video the following day of Tati Westbrooks’ video, but it hasn’t received much praise at all.
For more information and updates on this scandal, visit Here for the Tea and Tea Spill on Youtube.