I'm sure, unless you have been living under a rock or on a deserted island off the coast of Greece (lucky you), that you have heard about the MAJOR tea in the YouTube community for the past few weeks. If you have not, here is the rundown!
Tati Westbrook, known as Glamlifeguru on YouTube, made a shocking tell-all video exposing her previous apprentice, James Charles. Charles, who is also a beauty and makeup guru as well as a vlogger on YouTube and a Covergirl ambassador, has received three million subscribers (and counting) worth of backlash in lieu of Westbrook's recent video.
Tati, the Halo Beauty founder, claimed Charles has been abusing his fame and power and manipulating straight men into having relations with him.
I know, messed up.
Tati's 45-minute video outlines some of James' major slip-ups over the past few months, including promoting Tati's number one competitor, Sugar Bear Hair. James Charles supposedly promoted Tati's competitor in hopes of them gifting him with Artist passes for Coachella. He originally only had VIP passes (poor thing!).
Charles claims in his response video that he had no other choice but to accept the deal with Westbrook's biggest competitor. He was getting mobbed in the VIP section and needed Artist passes to escape the crowds. While this seems like a valid excuse, was it messed up for him to promote his best friend's main competitor for some tickets to a music festival? Absolutely.
The biggest takeaway from Westbrook's video seems to be the sexuality manipulation issue. Tati claims that, on multiple accounts, James Charles has made jokes about liking "straight boys" and using his fame to get to them. She even touches on how he flirted with a waiter, who she claimed to be straight, at her birthday dinner with her husband, family, and close friends. Westbrook goes on to explain how she had to call each person in attendance afterward and apologize on his behalf for making it, well, uncomfortable.
When Tati's video first hit YouTube, fans of Westbrook and Charles alike were quick to turn their back on James. Westbrook had never been a confrontational YouTuber and always managed to skate around drama and keep to herself. So, I believed her story until James released a response video.
James responded to Tati's video in a very respectful way. He did his best to pull up receipts and counter all of Tati's claims. He even goes on to tell the story about the waiter at Tati's birthday party.
He gives screenshots of the messages he later shared with said waiter where the waiter disproved Tati's argument and claimed he was bi-sexual. The screenshots show no sign of manipulation or pressure on the boy's sexuality.
James also tries his best to explain his point of view and reasoning for promoting Sugar Bear Hair. Finally, he apologizes for everyone he hurt along the way and respectfully asks for us, the viewers, and his family and friends to not be so quick to jump at his neck and give him time to grow.
Finally, there comes Jeffree Star's dramatic entrance into the situation. Jeffree Star is another makeup and beauty guru and vlogger on YouTube. Jeffree and his boyfriend, Nathan Schwandt, previously shared a close friendship with James Charles. Once Tati's tell-all was released, Jeffree was quick to side with her. He took to Twitter to show his anger and disgust with Charles.
Jeffree quickly confirmed Tati's accusation's in his tweet explaining that he and Nathan have banned James Charles from their house. Jeffree also tweets James' brother, Ian, calling his brother a predator and claiming that's why Ian moved back to NYC away from James.
While this could possibly be true, was it messed up for Jeffree to come at an innocent child like that? 100%. He has since then come out with a video apologizing for acting so aggressive and rude on social media. He claims he was in a dark place and regrets it.
Tati has also come out with an apology video since then.
Now that all the facts are out there. let's get to the juicy part. Whose side are you on?
That seems to be the biggest question among group chats and Instagram polls. I am constantly seeing "Team Tati? Team James?" everywhere I go.
In the beginning, I can honestly say I was all for the tea and stood by Tati 100% in her accusations as I never was a big James Charles fan. But as more and more drama started to spiral out, I quickly became Team No One.
This oil spill in the YouTube community is a perfect example of why social media is not the place to hash out your problems. People get hurt. James Charles has lost more than three million subscribers, and his reputation is possibly ruined. Tati has gone from the innocent 37-year-old YouTuber to a malefactor for both her and James' career. Jeffree has also convinced us even further that he has uncontrollable anger issues.
While we all love a little drama (as much as we don't like to admit it), this situation seems to be never-ending and hurt everyone it touched along the way.
So, whose side are you on?
