Tati Westbrook has spoken out about the saga that has engulfed her and fellow YouTube star James Charles. Photo / YouTube
Tati Westbrook has spoken out about the saga that has engulfed her and fellow YouTube star James Charles. Photo / YouTube
If you thought the drama between feuding YouTube megastars James Charles and Tati Westbrook was dying down, you were wrong.
Westbrook has just dropped a new tear-filled video speaking out about the social media saga that has left Charles with his reputation and business in tatters, reports news.com.au.
The 37-year-old beauty vlogger's withering slap-down came after Charles, 19, endorsed a vitamin company, Sleep Vitamins by SugarBearHair — which is a direct competitor of her beauty brand, Halo Beauty — at Coachella in April.
During the 43 minute video, Westbrook controversially accused the openly gay teenager of making inappropriate sexual advances towards straight men.
Now though, Westbrook — who saw her YouTube subscribers double from five million to 10 million during the saga — is pleading with people to "please stop" the "abuse", explaining she'd never intended for anything of "this magnitude" to occur.
"I do want the hate to stop. I want the picking sides and the abusive memes and the language, and all of that … I really hope on both sides it can stop," she said. "That's not why I made the video."
Explaining her intentions in a new video titled "Why I Did It", the 18-minute clip dives head first into her side of the drama between her and Charles.
"It was me trying to reach someone that was completely unreachable," she said. "He is losing the ability to get honest more and more each day. I'm losing the ability to reach (out to him)."
'I DON'T HATE JAMES'
The 37-year-old goes on to state she wanted to meet with James face-to-face but hadn't been able to since his "downfall".
"I don't hate James Charles. I don't want you guys hating on him … It's painful to watch someone that you have cared for be dragged and to know that this started because of me. I don't think anyone deserves that," she said.
Westbrook insists she released the scathing video called "Bye Sister" to give the teen a "wake-up call" stressing, "I love James Charles."
Westbrook — who has seen a surge in subscribers while Charles' abandoned him — said she didn't think "it was possible" for his fans to turn on him, saying she presumed she would "take the hit".
"I'm in a dark place and just need to take a break right now," she said.
She also added she thought their relationship wouldn't recover from the ordeal, insisting she didn't want to "take him down" with her initial post.
"If I really wanted to take him down and ruin him and cancel James Charles, I would have been sharing every little detail that I could, just know that I didn't," she said.
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE?
While some may think the apology has come a bit late as Charles has arguably already suffered catastrophic damages from her first video, fans applauded Westbrook in the comments for being "the bigger person".
Simply titled "tati", James appeared upset in the eight minute clip which was filmed on Friday, May 10 — the day the drama broke — while he was in Australia to promote his new pop-up stores. It has since been viewed 48.5 million times and led to a number of unflattering parody videos.
Before the controversy unfolded, the YouTube star appeared on Sunrise on Friday morning, then later visited the news.com.au offices for an exclusive interview where he revealed the beauty mistake we're all making.
But since his public appearance in the Gold Coast on Saturday, he kept a low profile with one report stating: "It's like he has just disappeared and gone into hiding."
At the time, he'd lost 500,000 followers in the feud, but as his fan base has dropped by over three million with that number continuing to strain under the monumental backlash.
Yesterday, the troubled teen star was spotted arriving into L.A. airport after slipping out of Australia, where he refused to answer questions for the waiting paparazzi.
HUGE CONCERNS FOR HEALTH
Westbrook's new video may have been prompted by the increasing worries about Charles' mental health.
Despite the backlash for Charles, there are some fans who are concerned for the teenager — calling out the critics for cyber bullying.
@mentalhealth Hi! I’d just like to point out a concern, hoping that maybe you could give some professional perspective. Would the James Charles situation of people posting hate comments be considered as cyber bullying?
As well as losing many loyal followers, Charles has been snubbed by some of his most famous fans — including Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry. It has also been reported the entire Kardashian-Jenner clan hit unfollow on him too.
If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call 111.
If you need to talk to someone, the following free helplines operate 24/7:
DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757 LIFELINE: 0800 543 354 NEED TO TALK? Call or text 1737 SAMARITANS: 0800 726 666 YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 or text 234
There are lots of places to get support. For others, click here.
