James Charles has successfully bounced back from the whole "Bye Sister" situation but the grooming allegations that kept surfacing against him have taken a toll on the makeup guru and his brand. Now he is trying to clear his name again by addressing the allegations for the first time.
James Charles has been best known for his extravagant makeup tutorials on YouTube – until the equivalent of Armageddon in the YouTube beauty community shook the internet to its core. For a time, he seemed like the most hated person on YouTube, rapidly losing subscribers and basically his livelihood.
Against all odds, he managed to bounce back from that, but the controversies didn't stop. In 2021 new allegations came up with multiple people coming forward claiming he talked inappropriately to them when they were underage.
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James Charles Addresses Allegations Just In Time For The Launch Of His New Makeup Line
No time like the present to simultaneously address the controversy that nearly broke his YouTube career and launch his newest project, right? In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Charles talks about the allegations yet again.
Good thing he does. The internet is quick to condemn people, often without waiting for the truth to come out as the next drama is just a few clicks away. Turns out: yes, James Charles did inappropriately talk to minors. But only after they lied about their age, telling him they were 18.
That doesn't make him a saint by any means, but it's better to be irresponsible than a knowing predator, right?
Still, at the time, the allegations lead to the near-collapse of the James Charles brand. Sponsors and partners cut ties with him, YouTube demonetized his channel and former fans turned his back on him. That last one actually stuck: the views on his videos are kinda low in comparison to the numbers he made before the whole thing.
The career perspective isn't the only horrifying thing that came out of the whole drama, though. Charles tells Cosmopolitan how he cried himself to sleep every night and even thinking of the most drastic measures: "I wanted to kill myself", he said.
Charles refuses to stay down, though. He did a lot of self-reflection apparently, and talked to mental health experts. Now he launches his makeup line Painted, completely on his own and with nothing but his own money.
The situation has left its mark on him as a person as well. "I'm a club bouncer at this point", he told Cosmopolitan, having developed the habit of checking the ID of people he's romantically interested in. And to be honest: good for him. Having learned from his mistakes and now working on coming back from all of his setbacks, he advocates for forgiveness.
Everybody makes mistakes, everybody fucks up. Don't get me wrong – I definitely don't think people should be able to do whatever they want and not be held responsible for it. It's important that people be held accountable. But I think it's important that we allow people to grow and to learn. The idea that somebody fucks up and then their entire life and career and everything that they've worked for should be swept out from under their feet is just horrifying."
You know what? I think he's right. Like, generally speaking. The idea of him having been tricked into believing to be talking to adults only to lose everything he worked for because he believed them and got canceled for it? That's heavy. Still, Charles is working hard on bouncing back again – he's done it before.