James Charles is still feeling the effects of the public fallout between himself, Tati Westbrook, and Jeffree Star. What began as a dispute between two longtime friends over brand affiliations and competition, ended up being an all-out social media war. Star and Westbrook ended up walking away with their reputations intact after delivering apologies. Meanwhile, Charles walked away with a "sexual predator" label he says he'll never be able to shake. To keep this on record, Charles has denied the sexual predator allegations against him repeatedly.
He took to Instagram to express how he's feeling now that the dust has settled and his reputation is stained.
James Charles isn't too happy about how the drama has spilled over onto his friends and their brands.
"There have been a lot of comments on my page, my friends' pages, and brand pages that I am associated with about recent events on social media," he began his note. "I am going to have to deal with these lies, accusations, and being called horrible names for the rest of my life, and it [redacted] sucks, but I have already proven the accusations to be 100% false, and at this point, there is not much more I can do,” he wrote to his followers.
Charles also addressed the supporters he lost on his social media accounts due to the sexual predator accusations.
“I have to be patient, show my true character, but also understand that there will ALWAYS be people who do not want to believe the full story, because to many, drama is more entertaining than the truth. It’s sad, but this is the internet culture we created, and I don’t want these people following me anyway.”
Charles pleaded with his current fan base to engage with his trolls peacefully.
“I know that a LOT of you guys want to defend me, and I appreciate that, but I ask that if you do, do it politely. PLEASE. The best way to combat rumors and lies is with kindness, maturity, and facts. Don’t be mean, don’t call names, and don’t stoop to their level. It’s unnecessary and if we learned anything from the past few weeks, it’s that negativity and fighting gets us nowhere. Please be kind or don’t say anything at all. Negativity will be blocked. Love you all.”
In short? James Charles is good on the drama for now.
Meanwhile, some beauty critics are confused about how Charles felt he handled the allegations.
"When were these accusations proven false?" a person questioned.
Charles provided screenshots of his text exchange with the waiter he was accused of harassing and holding hostage in a hotel room. The messages proved that the waiter consented to their interactions. Additionally, the waiter shared in his own YouTube video that he consented. Charles also provided screenshots to prove what went down between himself and Sugar Bear Hair. As for Star's claims that Charles made their mutual friends the Dolan twins feel uncomfortable with his sexual advances — Charles disputed those, but didn't prove them "100% false" as he stated.
One person views his video more as damage control than actual proof of anything.
"All he did was essentially make a video addressing his side of the drama and not really proving anything false, etc. And I don’t see any reason why Tati would have lied? Her video was asking him to become a better person while his was a video to fix his career," one critic wrote.
Sheesh. People aren't holding anything back.
People are calling out what they believe are opposing messages within Charles' different statements.
"But in his apology video to Tati he said it was true and he was sorry….? Then he denied it in his vid with screenshots… now he’s saying it’s lies and I AM CONFUSION," a critic wrote in disbelief.
To be fair here, James Charles apologized specifically for hurting Westbrook's feelings concerning his Sugar Bear Hair affiliation. He did not apologize for the allegations she made against him about attempting to manipulate men sexually. He also did not apologize for being an alleged sexual predator.
Another person believes Charles posted his peaceful statement to seek attention.
"Come on James, just because the spotlight had swung off you and people were starting to move on, isn’t a reason for you to readjust the hinge and have it pointed back on you again," a fan wrote.
"All other parties are quiet and moving on (for whatever reason that may be). Just do the same. This need to be constantly drawing any attention to yourself in a victim-like state is a narcissist trait. We all know that rules can be set up to block certain words, just do that if it really is bothering you so much. Just remember that you’ve thrown out as just much hate in tweets, comments, videos, Snapchats, etc and those people have been the result of a witch hunt by your fans. Over and Out."
Let's just hope that Charles finds peace at some point, and that his fans, at his urging, will follow suit.
