James Charles is having the worst month ever. Some of his friendships have exploded on the World Wide Web. He's lost millions of subscribers, and so many people on social media are throwing a #JamesCharlesIsCancelled party. Then, there are the very serious sexual predator allegations against him. Charles has issued an apology to his former friend Tati Westbrook for causing their friendship to end. As for the other accusations that have come from every direction of the internet ā some from Jeffree Star, even ā he's not going down without a fight.Ā
The internet may be trying to cancel James Charles, but Charles is out to cancel what he considers to be serious false statements. He dropped a video called "No More Lies" and addressed every single allegation against him from the top to the bottom.
He started off with an interesting āthank youā to Tati Westbrook and Jeffree Star.
āI do want to issue a 'thank you' to both Jeffree and Tati for taking some of the responsibility for blowing this whole thing up and for starting everything. I really respect that a lot, and I appreciate the fact that they were trying to redirect the hate away…," he shared on his YouTube channel.Ā
Charles' thank-you comes after Star shared on Snapchat that he does regret tweeting out his personal beef with Charles and that it "could have been handled behind closed doors 100%."Ā
Westbrook also issued out an additional explainer video on her channel where she expressed similar sentiments.
Charles believes Westbrook and Star caused him to go to āa really dark placeā after they blasted him publicly via social media.
āThe past week on the internet has been the darkest that I think weāve all ever seen," Charles shared. "And itās also been the darkest time that Iāve ever had to go through in my life and my thoughts got to a really scary place. Watching Tatiās video, itās clear to me that sheās also in a really dark place as well and has been pained by this whole situationā¦."
Charles believes Westbrook is sincere about not wanting to cause any online bullying.
"If I know anything about Tati over the past three years, itās that she has a huge, huge heart," Charles confirmed. "Thereās no denying that, and I think I do believe her when she says that she does not want this to get so vile. I donāt think anyone thought this was going to be as big as it really wasā¦."
And yet, James Charles has a serious bone to pick with both Westbrook and Star.
"In Tatiās second video and Jeffree's Snapchats, they both said that they stand behind everything that they mentioned, and unfortunately, there have been allegations made against me because of these things, and I donāt really feel comfortable just moving on from those…," Charles stated.
Charles first wanted to set the record straight about exactly what happened with Sugar Bear Hair at Coachella that led to Westbrook feeling betrayed and ending their friendship.
According to Charles, it all began with boy drama.
"My friends and I all attended Coachella, weekend one, from April 11 through the 15, and I had an artist pass provided to me by a brand. We had a really good weekend…," he explained.Ā
"At Coachella, I had drama with a boy that I had been talking with for five months prior, and it all kind of clouded the overall memories. Later on that very same week, on April 19, my best friends and I in the family group chat made the last-minute decision that we wanted to attended Coachella weekend two to relive those memories, but boy-freeā¦."
Charles also clarified that since his second visit to Coachella was so last-minute, he could not get the artist passes that he had on the first weekend and ultimately needed Sugar Bear Hair's help when a security issue arose.
Charles and his entourage had to settle for regular VIP passes, which he says led to him being mobbed.
"… I started getting mobbed really, really quickly at a super-unsafe capacity," he said. "Whenever we stop to take a photo, other people tend to come, and it turns into a big situation and it honestly was not safe."
And that's where Nikita Dragun and Sugar Bear Hair came in.
"I had remembered from weekend one that my friend Nikita Dragun was brought by Sugar Bear Hair and had an artist pass, personal security, and backstage passes, and was very, very taken care of and safe," Charles explained. "When I felt unsafe in the situation, I panicked and I texted Nikita and I asked her if she had a connection to the Sugar Bear Hair team that could potentially help me outā¦ā
Charles claimed that he never made any planned back-door deals with Sugar Bear Hair prior to Coachella.
āDespite what Tati said in her video, this whole situation was definitely not a big scheme that was orchestrated beforehand. It really did happen on the spot," Charles said. "The Sugar Bear Hair team texted me their proposal right away. No money was involved. With no time to negotiate, and in a panic, I signed and that was that on that."
But that isnāt all he had to say about Westbrookās claims against him.
Charles accused Westbrook of lying about him telling her that he couldn't promote Halo Beauty on his page due to his young fanbase. āThis conversation never actually happened," he shared.Ā
"If you guys know my channel, you would know I donāt really do dedicated product reviews ever, which is what Tati is known for. Even though that is the case, Iāve still multiple times talked about her products on all my social media networks.āĀ
Charles also provided video clips from his past posts to prove that he has mentioned Halo Beauty multiple times to his audience.
Charles proceeded to thoroughly slam Westbrook for mentioning his mom in her video.
āOne of the most hurtful things Tati did in her video was [to] bring up my mom and question her parenting," he said. "My mom is the strongest woman I have ever met. She is kind. She is creative. And she is caring. She is a cancer survivor, and she balances a marriage, a full-time job, and raising two boys with absolutely crazy lives. Sheās helped me so much in the past, and when I've made a mistake, she has never turned to public humiliation as a form of punishment. All that being said, I love my mom, and I think she is doing a damn good job if I do say so myself.āĀ
Welp!
Of course, Charles also wouldn't let Westbrookās accusations ride about him trying to manipulate straight guys either.
He thought it very important to remind the world that he is a virgin and has not engaged in sexual activity to disprove rumors about him being a sexual predator.
"First of all, I am a 19-year-old virgin… I don't really get a lot of action," he shared. "That being said, I have never and would never and will never use my fame, money, or power to manipulate or get any sexual actions from a guy. That is disgusting. It is not me. And the fact that Tati brought this up blows my mind because she knows the real story."
Charles also maintained that the incident Westbrook described where he allegedly hit on a straight waiter named Sam during her Seattle birthday dinner never happened.
He confirmed that he did flirt with the waiter, but āthe conversation never got inappropriate.ā He also reiterated that Sam, who made his own video (weird?), admitted that he was flattered and not uncomfortable. To further his point, Charles dropped a screenshot of that waiter messaging him to confirm that he identifies as bisexual, thus disproving Westbrook's statements that he was "trying to trick a straight man into thinking that he's gay."Ā
Charles also confirmed the waiter's statements that they did meet up later at his hotel, watch a movie together, have a make-out session, and then part ways. Per his and Sam's statements, the entire night was consensual.
Charles also wanted to clarify questions his supporters had about a publicized message he sent to Sam about not believing Sam was "fully straight."
Without context, the message seemed to align with Westbrook's concerns about Charles aiming to manipulate straight men. Charles debunked that statement by providing multiple screenshots of text messages from Sam that convey him being on the fence about his sexuality. The text messages show Sam telling Charles that he is "bi," then telling him he thinks he's straight, thenĀ telling him he's "basically bi."
Charles also claimed that he showed Westbrook, her husband James, and Gabriel Zamora these text messages.
He also revealed that Westbrook advised him to stop talking to boys who are curious about their sexuality because an outsider could manipulate the situation to make Charles look bad. Charles says he now sees their conversation as a "warning" thatĀ sheĀ was going to be the one to try to take him down.Ā
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh!
He also further explained his history of being attracted to straight men using none other than a clip from his frenemy Jeffree Star.
We see what ya did there, Charles! The clip he shared from Star's channel is of Star explaining how he ended up routinely involved in straight guys. In short, Star explained that lots of guys who publicly identify as straight will only intimately engage with him "behind closed doors."Ā
Charles complimented Star's explanation of how men who identify as gay engage with men who identify as straight and how hard that journey can be. Charles also made sure to confirm that when he approaches straight men and they confirm that they are straight and uninterested, he brings the conversation to a "halt" and does not pursue further.
James Charles did acknowledge the guys he dealt with in the past who came forward about him making them "uncomfortable."
"Reading some of them, I honestly felt really, really bad. I reached out to all the boys directly and apologized to them for my actions."
Although he revealed that he reached out to those guys to acknowledge their feelings, he also shared that he believes these normal birds-and-bees interactions were blown up to make him look like a predator.
Charles was out to defend himself, but also had concerns about how people in the LGBTQ+ community are treated on the dating scene in general.
He specifically used his situation with the singer, Zara Larson, who previously accused him of trying to talk to her boyfriend "several times knowing d*** well he's straight." Larson eventually deleted her tweet and then published another to clarify that she checked and saw Charles had only messaged her boyfriend once.Ā
Charles appreciated her clarification, but still didn't take too kindly to how society has demonized people in the LGBTQ+ community for using social media to meet potential romantic interests while straight people are allowed to do so without negative stereotypes.
He posted this screenshot of how he says Zara Larson herself met the boyfriend she was defending.
First, Charles noted that had he known the guy was Larson's boyfriend, he would not have messaged him. Then he noted how straight women are allowed to thirst over random guys on social media and are accepted, as this tweet shows Larson did.Ā
"For me, as a gay man, to DM the same person in private with a simple compliment is predatory. These stereotypes are on gay men, have been, and continue to be very, very harmful to the community and have been historically used to villain-ize gay men in society."
Charles also blasted people for fabricating stories about him touching people inappropriately and then admitting to them being "a social experiment" and doctoring tweets when he says he no longer has the Twitter app.
After that spiel, Charles turned his attention back to Jeffree Star.
He called out Jeffree Star for publicly accusing him of preying on straight men although he had previously recommended Charles to connect with his boyfriend Nate's brother, whom he admitted was straight.Ā
Charles revealed screenshots of text messages from Jeffree Star that accused him of trying to molest guys in their sleep, forcing the waiter Sam to stay in the hotel room with him, and more. According to the screenshots, Star specifically told Charles that he needed to be "locked in prison for a very long time." He also said, "You need the Internet taken away from you, you are a danger to society." Charles also provided screenshots of text messages Star allegedly sent to Charles' best friend that accused Charles of being a predator and a pedophile.Ā
Sheesh, this is a lot.
In short, James Charles owns up to being extra flirty, young, and still learning the dating scene.
He completely denies being physically inappropriate with anyone or targeting straight men to manipulate them sexually.Ā
As for his friendships with Tati Westbrook and Jeffree Star? Well, we doubt that sister squad will be feeling sisterly anytime soon. Anyway, here's to less drama in the beauty community going forward and, um, consensual everything.
