James Charles’ messiest scandals over the past 10 years, as he loses 131k followers

YouTuber James Charles is getting criticised for his apology after the Spirit Airlines incident, so let’s look back at his scandals over the past almost 10 years.

James Charles has been an influencer since he was a teenager, and boy, does he have a history of scandals to back that up. He’s managed to stay relevant even after the fall of peak beauty YouTube in 2016, growing huge platforms on TikTok and Instagram. But it feels like every few years, he’s in another huge scandal. Here’s a roundup of just some of the most standout messes.

He made an Ebola joke in 2017

Like a year after he first blew up, James Charles got in his first real bit of trouble. The makeup guru was still in high school and told his Twitter followers he was going to South Africa for a school trip.

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A post shared by James Charles (@jamescharles)

“I can’t believe we’re going to Africa today, omg, what if we get Ebola?” he said.

The joke obviously didn’t go down well. Not only did the Ebola outbreak not reach South Africa, but the joke just felt out of touch and anti-African. James quickly apologised, his first of many.

“I am extremely sorry. Regardless of my intentions, words have consequences. I take full responsibility and will learn and do better,” he tweeted shortly after being called out.

The Dramageddon 2.0 and Bye Sister scandal that broke YouTube

Two years later, Tati Westbrook made Bye Sister and beauty YouTube was never the same. In the video, she accused James of being a shady friend, overly sexual and boy-focused, and even alluded to him being a predator. At first, James posted a standard apology, crying and apologising to her for everything he’d done. But in his follow-up video, No More Lies, James refuted most of the claims and staunchly denied being a predator.

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A post shared by James Charles (@jamescharles)

Still, the whole scandal meant James lost around two million subscribers in just two days. Wild.

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Then, the grooming allegations came in.

In 2021, a wave of young men spoke out against James Charles on TikTok and Twitter. They accused him of having inappropriate conversations with them and fostering an uncomfortable dynamic. Some of the men who spoke out claimed they were underage when this all took place.

James acknowledged the inappropriate conversations, apologised for the incidents, and said he needed to check age more thoroughly in the future.

“These conversations should have never happened,” he said “To the guys involved in the situation, I want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I flirted with you, and I’m really sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable. It is completely unacceptable.”

Now, the whole Spirit Airlines mess

This past week, James got backlash yet again for a rant he shared about people asking him for money. He called out a woman who had lost her job at Spirit Airlines for sending him a GoFundMe link to raise money while she looked for a job.

James Charles mocks a woman who messaged him her GoFundMe after she lost her job when Spirit Airlines filed for bankruptcy. Calls her a lazy piece of shit.
byu/adularia- inFauxmoi

“You’re not a fan, you don’t even follow me, you’ve never supported me, this is your first time DMing me, and you think that I’m going to send you money because you lost your job? Welcome to the real world, sweetheart. People lose their jobs every day,” he said in a now-deleted rant.

And for his newest apology? Here’s what he had to say.

“It was rude, it was obnoxious, it was privileged, and most importantly, it was completely f***ing unnecessary,” the influencer said. “I shamed her for asking for help in a situation where she was clearly struggling.” “I feel awful because that wasn’t my intention.”

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Featured image via Instagram/X/YouTube