Shawn Mendes, Katy Perry + More Unfollow James Charles Following YouTube Scandal
Things are going from bad to worse for scorned YouTuber James Charles after his mentor Tati Westbrook shared a video revealing how the 19-year-old betrayed her by endorsing Sugar Bear Hair vitamins, which rivals her own brand, Halo Beauty, and preying upon straight men.
Aside from losing a staggering 3 million YouTube subscribers since Westbrook posted the critical clip, the beauty expert has also lost a number of celebrity fans. On May 6, he was hanging out with Kylie Jenner at the Met Gala. Just a week later, she unfollowed him on Instagram, and her sister Kim Kardashian followed suit. The sisters both have previously been featured in Charles' makeup tutorials.
Katy Perry also deserted the makeup guru, despite praising him in 2016 for being CoverGirl's first ever CoverBoy. Shawn Mendes has also cut digital ties with Charles', with whom he shared numerous DMs and tweets in October 2018 after the teen thought one of his comments on an Instagram Live video made the pop star feel uncomfortable.
Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato have also since unfollowed Charles on Instagram.
After Westbrook published the 43-minute-long video, Charles issued a video apology where he explained his relationship with the fellow YouTuber and lamented over what he did to betray her trust.
"To Tati and James Westbrook [her husband], I’m sorry for everything that is going on, everything that I’ve put you through over the past few weeks,” he said. “I hate knowing that I disappointed not only [my fans], but two people that have been role models for me doing this... What sucks the most is that I know there’s nothing I can say or do to ever earn that friendship or trust back but I don’t blame them for it."
Watch both Westbrook and Charles' videos below.