Another day, another opportunity for James Charles to be dragged for controversy. And while we could beat around the bush and tiptoe around the fact that this is a daily occurrence, this time we'll get straight to the point.
The beauty YouTuber is in hot water for allegedly copying a musical group's a cappella rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner and passing it off as his own at the Ace Family Charity Basketball Game, enraging music fans everywhere.
And while James insists that he simply "forgot," social media isn't letting him off that easy.
In case you didn't know, James Charles likes to sing sometimes.
And on June 29, Charles took center court along with two of his friends to sing the National Anthem at the Ace Family Charity basketball game. The YouTuber slash singer belted out the words to the Star-Spangled Banner with what seemed to be his own original rendition of the long-sung song.
"My friends and I sang the national anthem at the staples center in front of 21,000 people tonight and killed it… I blacked out and don’t remember any of it but I’m just feeling so grateful and blessed right now!!! what is my life!!!" he tweeted with excitement after the performance.
Naturally, the internet immediately created a scandal surrounding this.
Turns out the rendition Charles and friends sang was not theirs at all. In fact, it was stolen straight from a singing group named the Ruppe Sisters. Given that Charles isn't the first, nor will he be the last person, to sing another person's rendition of a constantly remixed song, the real issue came from Charles claiming it as a rendition he composed himself.
Social media is not having it.
And he's getting criticized from basically every platform. In a Reddit thread exposing the situation, the YouTuber is being torn to shreds.
"James 'forgetting' that he 'created' and recorded a whole ass rendition of the national anthem is just hilarious to me," a commenter wrote.
"He is a narcissist, he believes his own lies and believes everyone else will believe them 100% no matter how ridiculous they are. Like come on, he’s claiming he forgot he composed a song? How does someone forget doing that? Or anything? Was he black out drunk or on drugs because that’s really the only way you can do anything and completely forget. This doesn’t include things like composing a song," another said.
Fans are practically begging Charles to properly credit the true composers.
"@jamescharles please credit the @ruppesisters for the beautiful harmony on your national anthem performance at the Staples Center. It’s only the right thing to do," someone politely asked on Twitter.
The situation is far more than a simple coincidence.
In fact, it's a case of theft.
"James Charles straight up stole 'his' arrangement for the National Anthem from the ruppesisters. If he ever responds to the scandal and says it's a coincidence I will lose it. There are so many unique things about that arrangement that there is no way he came up with it himself," another wrote.
It further emphasized what many already believe about Charles: that he thinks he's beyond reproach.
"But you’re not gonna express your gratitude and give credit to @ruppesisters you literally stole their arrangement and gave yourself the credit. Like people don’t know who they are. I would rather listen to them over you sounding like you got nasal congestion," someone sharply wrote to Charles.
So is this how it's going to be forever?
Will beauty influencers who have reached a certain level of popularity continue to be excused for their bad behavior, regardless of who they step on in the process? It's definitely seeming that way for Charles, who's been able to get away with similar wrongdoings time and time again.
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