PAJames Charles, the 19-year-old YouTuber and beauty vlogger, has taken a serious hit in the subscribers department after a number of allegations made against him recently came to light.
Charles has amassed over 16 million followers on YouTube in around three years, though in little more than a day more than one million of those have unsubscribed due to his recent behaviour.
The 19-year-old made an appearance at the recent Met Gala, but caused controversy when he called it ‘a step forward for influencer representation in the media’.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxJDgUsgi26/
He wrote:
my first met gala… thank you so much @youtube for inviting me and @alexanderwangny for dressing me! being invited to such an important event like the ball is such an honor and a step forward in the right direction for influencer representation in the media and I am so excited to be a catalyst
However, many people called him out for the comment, saying things like: ‘James broke the rule number #1 Never bite the hand that feeds you’, ‘Sorry but James Charles using the words “influencer representation” and not even doing it ironically has ruined the rest of my year’, and ‘James Charles really said “influencer representation” as if he’s been discriminated against for being a millionaire youtuber.’
More so than his comments, however, was his former friend Tati Westbrook’s video, in which she accused him of ‘turning straight men gay’, and listing his problematic behaviour, as Metro reports.
Tati stated she had ‘had enough’ of Charles’ ‘over-sexualised’ online presence, particularly as he had an audience of relatively young people.
James Charles has also come under fire from fans and followers after turning up to a meet and greet two hours late, and hiking up prices for his world tour, with some tickets and packages going for up to $500.
After the two-hour wait, the 19-year-old was reportedly only present at an event in Australia for seven minutes, before making excuses to leave. He had apparently been recording an apology video to Tati.
Among her allegations, Tati said:
You are using your fame, power and money to play with people’s emotions. You’re threatening to ruin them and embarrass them, and you’re doing that to have them behave sexually in your favour even if they’re straight?
As a result of a crazy few days in the life of the YouTuber, his follower count seems to be plummeting.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.